Six Days and Counting...

If ever I wished I lived in a hut in Africa, now is it. Packing boxes are deceptively small and if I was superstitious in nature I would believe that little elves are in the bottom, 'short sheeting' my box so I can't put in as much as I want. Either that, or we have overshot our 'stuff' quota by a mile. Actually, I think if we lined our stuff along a street it would fill a mile, or maybe more. Maybe we'd leave a trail of our stuff all the way to our new house....

All this stuff seemed like a good idea at the time. Unlike my 'hut in Africa' idea, I have a blender for milkshakes and quilts for each bed and for each season. I have glasses for wine and glasses for kids, Tupperware containers with colourful lids (Dr Suess can use that one with permission!). The point is, we have items for every occasion that are supposed to make life easier and more comfortable. We get used to our 'stuff' and it then takes on such an important place in our lives that we think we can't live without it. Until we start to try and fit all of these things into boxes, then we wonder why we have so much.

Packing seems to be a humbling experience for 'stuff' just as much as it is for the person doing the work. All of a sudden, our 'important' things are reduced to the common denominator of which sized box it fits in, or in which category it should be packed. Our things that have been so useful are hidden away and maybe won't see the light of day for several years (just ask those who still have boxes they haven't opened from the move before the last move). Will these things be useful or perhaps a better question to ask is - could we live without them?

Peter Walsh, a declutter expert, says

"You only have one life to live. How you live that life is your choice. As far as I know, no one has ever had 'I wish I had bought more stuff' inscribed on their tombstone. What you own can easily blind you to who you are and what you can be." (For more declutter ideas, checkout his website http://www.peterwalshdesign.com)

Moving house does give us the opportunity to start afresh and re-invent our relationship with our stuff, but I'd like to think that it didn't have to take a move to prompt that kind of change. I would love to work out a vision for each room of our new house and only move what fits into that vision. Just because it's useful, doesn't mean we need to keep it. If everyone lived with this adage then charities would have nothing to pass on.

Having said all this however, with six days till our move, I think I am a little late to be having this ephiphany! So for now I will continue to shove whatever I can into boxes and be ever grateful for a double lock up garage on the other side. And maybe one day, I might even get to park a car in there.