The relief of writing

 

In the craziness of the moving process, sitting down at the computer and writing a blog post provides relief. Perhaps it is the physical break from packing, lifting, sorting and culling. Perhaps it is a return to a small creative endeavour that is an essential part of my existence. 

Today was clothing day. My goal was to go through every piece of clothing and disperse it into three piles: keep, give away, and throw away. I probably could have added a fourth pile: painting clothes. There are too many pairs of pants and shirts that have permanent memories of paintings gone by.

Then there were the suits and dress shirts. The amount I paid for the uniform of a senior manager/politician is staggering to think about.  I decided to keep a couple, just in case I have need for fancy clothes in the future. I also kept the tuxedo, again, just in case. 

Honestly, I am so grateful to be over five years on the other side of having to wear suits to work. There was a time when I had between 50 - 75 ties. I'm now down to an essential five. 

The clothes that I decided to keep fit into three totes. Three large boxes will be donated to the local thrift store and one large garbage bag will be going to the landfill.

How is it we are such consumers?  We have so much STUFF, accumulated over decades. It's truly insane. 

I suspect that as we unpack in the new place, we'll discover more stuff that can be given away or sold. But you reach a point in the moving process when you just want to stop making decisions.