I am struggling with material possessions! Stuff. I own a lot of stuff, and it owns me! Things that are markers in this 55 years of life on the planet. Things that remind me of Adventures and Sorrows. Of Triumphs and Failures. Of Love and Scoundrels! (LOL) Things that have acted as markers in documenting my life. It is hard to think of letting them go. And I need to let go of all of this stuff that I own in order to embrace future Adventures! I have to think of living differently, and in living differently think differently about stuff!
I can't afford to store everything that I own, for a year, while I volunteer with CENCUDI in Northern Ghana! So...I need to get rid of stuff! I fb'd my friend Maureen Sieh, who just completed 2 years with the Peace Corp in Morocco. She is still there, working with a NGO on a project involving Girls and media. I asked her ...what did she do with all of her stuff? She told me that she sold or gave away EVERY THING! I asked, "Everything?" "Yes...Everything!" EVER SINGLE THING!
I had been thinking about all of this stuff that I own for a long time. I have no children to pass "things" to. This stuff will have no meaning, once I am gone. Now, I have momentos and art that I have collected for years. I have furniture that I have enjoyed for years; a sofa that was in my deceased parents house and an ottoman that my dad re-upholstered. Gifts from friends and ex-boyfriends. African masks and statues. Drawings and ceramics from school kids. Photographs. And lots of fabric, beads and buttons! Stuff that I love! Get rid of everything? Everything?
But Maureen gave me some wise advise. You have enjoyed those items for years, and when you come back to the States, you can begin again...fresh! Another friend said that I could take photos of the items I really love. After all.....memories are in our mind and in our heart. Not in stuff!
So...I prepare to give up everything! Well, just about everything! For Adventure! I will keep 6 bins of stuff. Art and momentos, mostly. A lifetime of stuff in 6 bins! A friend has agreed to store them in her basement. I will sell as much as I can. I need to fund this year of service. I have to pay for my own food and personal items for the next year. I need a plane ticket to come back to the States at the end of September through the middle of December and then back to Ghana. (I have the money for my ticket there in Junte) I need to raise money for the transportation, lodging when I travel and petrol for the Oral History Project. I want to do a quilt project with the Junior High Students that I will work with in Ghana. (Looking for grants too! and will do some fundraising!)
As I look around my apartment, I see the potential funds for paying for this volunteer adventure!!! In some ways, giving up EVERY THING will be a lifted burden. It is unbelievable how much we accumilate in a lifetime! And is it amazing how much we really can live without! I have lived for months in Ghana, with my stuff in storage, and have not thought of one item in storage that I needed while there! After months of not seeing my stuff, and opening boxes to move into a new apartment...so much of what I pull out of boxes I say "Oh, I forgot I had this!"
And so, I will sell EVERY THING! Almost every THING. I will boil my life down to 6 bins. I will find new owners for all this stuff! I will take a deep breath, and unburden myself. I will embrace the void, and fill in the space with this new ADVENTURE! It is hard letting go. But I am trying to get ready and look at it as not letting go but embracing the future. And when it is all gone, I will be ready to go to Ghana and to serve. Here's to letting go!
