You Can’t Take It With You

You Can’t Take It With You

Stuff sounds exactly what it is: an unspecified material substance or aggregate of matter.

Everyone has stuff. Some of us have a lot of it. Some of us have very little of it. Some of us drink beverages made from the best of it.

Myself, I used to live and travel lightly. I would weed out all the bad stuff from the good stuff and keep only what I absolutely couldn’t live without—water, food, shelter, clothing, books, CDs, software, computers, photos, junk drawer items that might one day come in handy, most especially on those rainy days when just about everything is going wrong and you have no money to buy, say, a ball of twine, etc., etc.

Yeah. You know. Necessary stuff.

But it’s really kind of silly keeping those tin cans in which the Corinthians Vanilla Cream Wafers are originally stored, even though, yes, they might come in handy for keeping those wonderful knick-knacks and keepsakes we all like to think we will cherish forever and ever, looking upon them and remembering the good times that were had that day you picked up that rock or shell or flower or figurine.

Or maybe I just have the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, and I should remember where the hell I got this nifty shirt.

Seriously, though, I’ve learned during this move that I’ve amassed more stuff in the past few years than I ever have in my lifetime, and I can’t even figure out why I’ve been keeping them. It’s not like I’m a packrat or anything; in fact, I throw out quite a lot of stuff, far more than a certain someone would like. But this whole thing with me going back to the old place to retrieve more stuff that I couldn’t move in one trip or two is really getting to be ridiculous.

What would happen if I was suddenly robbed, or if the place went up in flames, or if everything simply disappeared? I’ll bet I couldn’t even remember or list half the stuff I had. And what if I just keeled over and died? It’s not like I could take the stuff with me to whatever afterlife might await me.

So why the hell do I have so much stuff to begin with? Why am I keeping it all?

*Sigh* Well… I’m not, of course. I’m just seriously overdue for some weeding of the stuff.

Anyone got a weed whacker?

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9 thoughts on “You Can’t Take It With You”

  1. Hey April! Sorry it has been awhile. Your entry here was a point that I got to that started me on the simplicity kick. I started to evaluate my "Stuff" and what of it I could not live without. I came up with VERY few things.

    1. 1/3rd of my clothes
    2. My Mac
    3. My little POS truck.
    4. My Bible
    5. My TV
    6. And finally, my Stereo/Music.

    Everything else that I have/had could evaporate, and I wouldn’t notice it. The Alien Barbeque is tasty! It has had many admirers! I hope you are well! Broch

  2. Ooh, April, stuff. My favorite subject. I use to have a lot of stuff. Old energy stuff…blocks your abundance.
    The last time I moved I decided to do a total simplicity thing (like Broch!) Here’s my triage method for decluttering:
    Keep it if it brings you joy, has a necessary use or moves you further on your path. (This goes for objects AND relationships).
    After this is completed, it moves the universe to bring more good stuff in.

  3. April,

    As always, your stuff is nicely worded, describing stuff that no one stops to ponder upon.

    They say that three moves are as good as a fire, of some such stuff like that. I have moved my stuff way more than three times and have very little stuff left over. It is piled all in one room on the floor, making rumbling though stuff a snap. Talk about a time saver, I know right off hand if I still have ‘it’ or if ‘it’ was thrown out with the rest of the stuff.

    I moved my common house stuff from the kitchen drawer to a basket, that works well for me, I can see the stuff that I want without even having to search through dozens of drawers, boxes, or closets full of unused stuff. My motto: Unless its stuff that you will absolutely use tomorrow, then store it outside with the others peoples unwanted stuff.

    Warren

  5. Having just moved myself, I can totally sympathize with your posts. I could not believe how much crap.. er.. stuff I have accumulated over the years.

    It’s Magical Stuff too. When you look at it, it never looks like much… and then you somehow manage to fill 15 boxes with it.

    So I can’t very well throw out something with Magical properties now, can I? What kind of Harry Potter fan would I be, if I did? 😉

    I hope the rest of your move goes very very quickly, the bruises are kept at a minimum, and you always have something to cover your bum. 🙂

  7. hey everyone
    everyone has gone through stuff but we can’t allways take it with us in the future only if your parents both die or your best friend and you know what if you have or your best friend has something bad like your situation april i think we should take ir with us and sharish thenm because we might never hear or see them again.

  8. hey everyone
    everyone has gone through stuff but we can’t allways take it with us in the future only if your parents both die or your best friend and you know what if you have or your best friend has something bad like your situation april i think we should take ir with us and sharish thenm because we might never hear or see them again.

  9. hey everyone
    everyone has gone through stuff but we can’t allways take it with us in the future only if your parents both die or your best friend and you know what if you have or your best friend has something bad like your situation april i think we should take ir with us and sharish thenm because we might never hear or see them again.

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