stuff

I sat today in a very tidy house.  Sarah talked about how keeping her home super clean was one of the last controls she had in her life.  She also shared that she had been giving some of her things away to friends and family.  "I am just keeping the things I really love." she explained. "And cleaning out all the possessions I've accumulated in the last 75 years.  It feels really good."


And that started me thinking about stuff.  I have too much.  I want more. I can never find what I am looking for.  And how I might sort things if I had Ms. Sarah's 3-months-to-live perspective.  Here are some random thoughts on stuff.


My cousin Dawn got me excited about vacuum pack, storage bags at Walmart.  I bought five of them. Then I went through my linen closet.  I got rid of old pillows, mismatched sheets and bleach stained towels.  I made a stack of must-keep baby blankets, my college comforters, and an afghan my grandmother knitted for me.  I put them in a couple bags and vacuumed the air out.  Wala! Instead of three overflowing shelves of stuff, I have one compact shelf in flat, see through bags.  And lots of empty space for the boy's growing collection of games.  I am now ready to vacuum pack my entire house.  Contained and organized stuff is better than out-of-control stuff.


When I started my new job I was given a phone.  A nice phone.  But very utilitarian.  Bulky.  Ugly. It has bothered me for months.  Last week I had to go to the phone store and accidently found this sleek, hot pink cover to replace the bulky one I had been given. $14.00 later and my phone is feminine and cheery.  It makes me smile every time I use it.   So do my tangerine pillowcases, the yellow bunny in my bathroom from my mom, my stair wall of pictures and the Loch Ness painting my dad made for me.  There are things all over my house that identify who I am and what I love.  Sometimes stuff does make you happy! 


Oprah quotes organizational expert Peter Walsh from his book Enough Already.  "Our homes are overwhelmed with stuff and our lives littered the empty promises that the stuff didnt fulfill.  In buying what we want, we hope to acquire the life we desire...but chasing the life you want by accumulating more stuff is a dead end street."


Powerful quote.  I want to be more in charge of my stuff, and not the other way around.  And of course, I want to make sure most of my treasures are the moth-free, thief-free, take-with-me-when-I-go kind.


And then there is this verse.  It woos me with an image of a God who delights in my pleasures and has good things in store for me.

I will give you hidden treasures,
   riches stored in secret places,
   I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord,
      the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.        Isaiah 45:3