What Family Heirlooms Do You Treasure?
This was my Granny’s flatware. Didn’t she have great style? Yesterday, when my landlord was in my apartment, he spied them in box, picked up a fork, and said, “You can’t sell these! They’re gorgeous."
I assured him that box was in the “store/keep” pile. This is the fourth time I've purged just about everything I own. Once in 2008, because I lost my job, eventually couldn't pay my mortgage and then lost the house. Purging the first time was hard, but the second and third time, it got easier.
Every time I purged all my stuff, this flatware was kept. Since I'll be travelling with nothing but a suitcase, laptop, and ampcoil, it will stay at friend's house for awhile with some other family heirlooms and items I love.
How do you relate to stuff? If you were headed to a desert island like me, what stuff what you take with you? What would you store? And what would you get rid of?
I have a problem. I like things… a lot. i wouldn’t consider myself materialistic, bc it’s not about the latest and greatest. I like antiques and odds and ends that tell a story…especially those that have a story. I like old toys, books, vintage kitchen items and household tchotchke, etc. I love having just the right dish for a holiday, or setting. “Oh it’s flag day? We should eat lunch on those flag dishes I have in the basement!” The problem is, the busier I’ve gotten in my life, the less time I have to go to the basement to get out those flag dishes, so they may end up sitting there on the shelf for a couple of …
Reflecting a bit, I think that the question is "What would you want to come back to?". If it was Mars rather than a desert island - no possibility of return - my list changes dramatically. So, what's this "objects to come back to" story all about? A Path in progress, I think.
I don't believe I'm a stuff person at this point. I usually stay in places for years, so I don't test that much. I know that I would miss many, many things if I lost them all, but, as I wander around my house, there is very little that I couldn't leave behind. Many things I keep out of a sense of "you paid good money for that," which I hear in my father's voice. Books are probably the key thing that I would feel the most emptiness without. Even though having them on Kindle would be much lighter, I love reading physical books.
I recognized it immediately! I'm so glad you're keeping it!
I went through this exercise recently in my writing group. All I could think of was my art but in all honesty, I could part with that also. I've moved 20 times and purged each time and I just don't care about stuff.