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Post by iguanamamma on Jul 30, 2009 20:39:41 GMT -5
Since my stuff floated away in Hurricane Ike I look at stuff differently.I am not as attached to stuff -if it's crap and needs to be thrown away I just throw it away .No gut pouring sensation, no thought like I'll never have stuff again. No feelings about my stuff whatsoever. Hey, I've even got better stuff now than I had before. I clean it when it gets dirty and don't think that the stuff has a life if it's own. Am I getting better? Have I cured the squalor in myself? I really have no idea.
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Post by crazycatlady on Jul 30, 2009 20:41:28 GMT -5
It is lovely that you can find the positive in what was a horrifying experience. I will try to use what you learned the hard way to help me remember that stuff is just stuff, and not that important. 
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Post by marigold on Jul 31, 2009 3:23:23 GMT -5
When I really want to purge, it helps me to imagine my room was on fire and everything burned down. Then it cristalizes in my head which items I would be really sorry that I couldn't retrieve. Puts things into perspective.
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Blackswan
Banned
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 6,388
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Post by Blackswan on Jul 31, 2009 13:01:23 GMT -5
After Katrina, I imagined what it would be like if it happened to me, and I pictured what I would grab. That put things in perspective for me too. The only things I am attached to are the bookshelf my father made for me (he died ten years ago) and the guitars and keyboard he bought me.
Also, maybe my computers, but even those are replaceable.
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Post by serenitynow on Jul 31, 2009 13:58:40 GMT -5
<<iguanamamma>>
I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
After the shock wore off, did you have a real deep feeling of loss for awhile? Or did you just feel lucky to be alive and the stuff didn't matter at all?
I guess I'm wondering because loss has been a reoccurring theme in my life, whether by abuse, death, theft or many missed life events. I know that they're all intertwined with this clutter problem.
serenitynow
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Post by messymimi on Jul 31, 2009 14:34:51 GMT -5
You remind me of some of the things Illuminata said on the old boards about after the fire. Once something like this happens, I guess the stuff becomes just stuff.
messymimi
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Post by juniper2 on Jul 31, 2009 16:52:59 GMT -5
If the house burned down...I would just remember all the stuff and miss it periodically, just like I miss all my former pets since childhood. Out of sight is NEVER out of mind for me. I miss a lot of my stuff that is all in boxes right now...that I wish I could get to! Still remember stuff I've sold at a front yard sale...cause I was moving, didn't have the room or time to move it, sold stuff because people at the yard sale appeared to be in more need of it than me...still miss the stuff, yearn for the stuff. So I'm glad you look at stuff differently now...don't feel attached. Me always have all these memories attached. Sounds like your in pretty good shape to me!  |
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Post by wyoming on Jul 31, 2009 17:02:29 GMT -5
Hmmm...this seems to be a threadline that I'm posting a lot about today.
I lost all of my belongings several years ago in a fire. It didn't cure my squalor, but it did cure my need to collect things and my attachment to things. When I went to move this last time, I threw almost everything out without regret.
I wish there was a way to harness that feeling that you get when you've lost everything and you realize you don't need it to keep going. That was very liberating for me.
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Post by Chris on Jul 31, 2009 17:36:06 GMT -5
I recently began thinking and dreaming about making a cross country move back to my home state. In thinking of what I'd want to take with me I realized how little I'd actually need beyond the practical things. Much of my furniture needs to be replaced anyhow. It is fun thinking of starting over since I have only moved once since we got married and that was 18 years ago. I realized that because the climate is very cold where we'd be moving, I'd need some of my blankets and jackets (and probably a much warmer winter jacket). I thought about some of my cooking things that I really like and my Tupperware -- but basically everything would fit in my mini van. Which makes me wonder why I currently have so darn much crap.
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