CSotD: Keeping only what fits
Skip to comments
Tina's Groove on the intersection of nostalgia and dementia. The popularity of A&E's "Hoarders" is based on how much better we feel about our own clutter when we watch it.
This theory also covers "The Biggest Loser" and "The Dog Whisperer" and any number of other shows featuring people whose lives have hit the wall, but there is an intriguing argument that goes on when the topic is memories and clutter.
At what point does cherishing your memories become clinging to the past? But then at what point does a refusal to cling to the past become shallowness?
I've gradually downsized my stash of stuff over the years and am about to do a major weeding as part of spring cleaning. I've indulged myself the past couple of moves by getting a two-bedroom place and using the spare room as storage, but I'm in a three-room apartment now and there's way too much stuff packed into what little storage I've got. Time to go through it and identify the things I haven't needed in the year I've lived here and what I likely will never actually need again.
It's more than an issue of storage space.
About 10 years ago, a friend broke up with her Significant Other, threw everything she couldn't live without in the trunk of her car and headed for the West Coast. Anything that didn't fit in the car went either to the Salvation Army or the dump. Our birthdays were within a few days of each other, and I was envious that, half a century into her life, she could still fit her stuff into the trunk of a car.
Of course, it's not really about stuff. The trick to maintaining that kind of mobility is not figuring out what does fit, but figuring out what no longer fits, as Melissa Etheridge so eloquently framed it.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
Comments
Comments are closed.