Dear Pogue,
There’s a lot to be said for not much. More is less is so true don’t you think? When I last moved house, supposedly downsizing, so, so much went but I think I still have far too much. And the reason I know I have too much is that I find myself becoming concerned about my stuff. Will it continue to work? Is it achieving it’s best? Do I need to upgrade? If it broke what would I do? And scariest of all, what if it was stolen? And truth be told I could live without virtually all of it.
I have to acknowledge an attachment disorder of sorts but I’m dealing with it and step by step a freedom is moving into my space.Yes, I will always have stuff because there are things that just make life more pleasurable such as my super duper coffee machine. And books! I love a good read but now I finish a book and give it away. Things I haven’t used in years, unless there’s an overriding reason, are parting company with me. The less I have the less I am invested and the less concerned I am.
Travelling has taught me how it is quite possible to live comfortably out of a single bag and how my interests are no longer on my possessions and I can appreciate life all around me.
Possessions are such a deception. We really don’t need that many. So let’s decide we will choose carefully and be sure that whatever we have is adding to our lives. If it’s causing concern, if it needs excessive energy, if your thoughts are going often to it, it really is more of a burden than a life enhancement.
Have you ever read any of Lee Child’s Reacher novels? Jack Reacher travels the world with just his toothbrush, passport and wallet. That’s it. I know, a bit extreme but an idea and if Reacher sits at one end of a spectrum and a collection of yatch owning oligarchs sit at the other end, you’ll find me a lot nearer Reacher and finding contentment.
It’s not about discarding the things you love, it’s about learning to love the most important things you have and then be content.
See how much you need this week…and what you don’t.
Wic.
Letters To Pogue 
It’s not about discarding the things you love, it’s about learning to love the most important things you have and then be content. (all else is heavy baggage that drags one down) We have sit up house so many times. Each time I purge, then fill up again, then we move again and I purge again and then fill up again. I have found in my 74 years I can live with so much less. I like the challenge of using different ways to use what I already have instead of buying into every thing that says I cannot do without. Well, I have and am still doing without most of that stuff. I am thankful I am not a collector, a hoarder or even a save this because it’s got memories. We come into this world with nothing and will leave with nothing. Good thoughts.
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Really like the criteria you offer for determining if our possessions possess us.
I had a small “epiphany” a couple years ago when we moved and were renting a house. I have always loved and wanted to have hydrangeas in my garden. Our neighbors next door and across the street both were growing hydrangeas, and it strengthened my desire to plant hydrangeas. My very simple realization was that I did not need to HAVE hydrangeas to enjoy them. I realized that it wasn’t the factor of a hydrangea bush being MINE, but rather, getting to see gorgeous pink and blue hydrangea blooms every day from my front and side windows that was where the joy resided. I return to this simple realization so often. The enjoyment and value is in the “thing” itself, not in whether or not I own it. When I’m focused on an unfulfilled desire for something, it prompts me to creatively think of how I can experience it without having to possess it.
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