250 Words on Living Lighter

[I try to start my day writing 250 words on anything. I’ll post one every Tuesday until I run out of good ones.]

One consequence of the wildfire that destroyed our home in 2017 is that Karen and I are living lighter.

Possessions don’t carry the same emotional weight they used to, partly because very few of ours are more than eight years old. We did save some things when we evacuated, and were given some family artifacts afterward, and those are priceless. The rest of it? Whatever.

When we rebuilt our home, we had to think about how to fill it. For example, I used to have thousands of books and a good comic book collection. Should I reassemble that library? Mostly, I decided not to. I repurchased a few books that I considered essential, but otherwise resolved to start fresh. The fun part of acquiring my old books had been the thrill of discovery and the hunt. Even if I could afford to reacquire them, the fun would be gone. 

And now my bookshelves are packed with new books. 

We have a shelf full of mugs in our kitchen. Whenever we get a new mug, an old one has to leave the house to make room for it. Do I like this prospective mug better than an old one? If not, no sale. 

For nearly everything we buy, we ask ourselves, “Do we really want it? What are we going to do with it? Where are we going to put it?” We don’t live like monks—we still have plenty of junk—but it’s mostly gathered with thoughtful intention. It’s good. 

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