Sorting The Wheat From The Chaff
Slowly, ever so slowly, our old bus conversion is getting emptied out, and the Winnebago is starting to fill up. It is amazing how much stuff we are finding that we did not even remember we still had! A lot of it is finding its way to the dumpster, or into the van to be dropped off at Goodwill.
Miss Terry has been doing most of the work of sorting and moving, mostly because she has a place for everything and wants everything in its place, and according to local rumor, I may be more of a stash it anywhere and we’ll look for it later kind of guy. I suspect that may account for a lot of the stuff we didn’t know we still had.
I keep pulling things out of closets, drawers, and cubbyholes and wondering why I have it. I finally gave up on the idea of ever being thin again, or even pleasantly plump, so there are some jeans and shirts that were part of that fantasy that will definitely go away.
But how about some of this other stuff? Why do we even still have it? A holster for a handgun I sold ten years ago. A music stand from my ill fated attempt to become a saxophone player. Some VCR tapes of movies we never got around to watching. We have not had a VCR in forever. An antique marble rolling pin. (I want that gone before Miss Terry whacks me over the head with it!) I have a feeling that whoever buys our bus, once we’re moved, out may get a lot better fuel mileage than we ever did!
Some of this is kind of bittersweet. In our old life, when space was not a problem, Miss Terry collected hand carved Native American fetishes, which are small stone or bone images of animals that have significance in the Indian culture. She gave most of them away when we hit the road, but she came across some of her favorites that she kept, which have been packed away for years now. Maybe she’ll find a place to display them in our new motorhome. She also came across some beautiful handmade Native American jewelry she has not worn in years, but that still has a lot of sentimental value to her.
For many people making the transition to the fulltime RV lifestyle, getting rid of their stuff can be quite challenging. However, once the trauma of seeing their first two or three treasures going away to a new home is over, most have found it to be a liberating experience. We soon come to the realization that we sometimes get to the point where we don’t own our stuff anymore, it owns us.
And just like we did way back when we first started our own fulltiming adventure, we are getting rid of even more stuff, and just like this old bus, soon we will be carrying a lighter load.
Thought For The Day – Sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
