A Purge was Triggered

The idea of moving was pondered. Not just pondered, seriously considered. That thought, was almost trauma inducing.

After living in the same place for nearly 30 years, you can imagine the accumulation that has been mounting over time. It's huge. It's filled up every nook, every cranny, and every added shelf throughout the entire home.

And it spilled over and out into storage sheds. Yes, sheds, plural.

The idea of moving as it came closer to reality triggered a horror that I did not know it would. It exploded into a panic.

Now I turned around and decided not to move. Not because the desire to relocate dissipated. It did not. But it did fade around the edges at the thought of having to pack up all the things that I knew I would not be able to part with, including the piano and other musical instruments.

All the mementos, the knick-knacks, the tons of books, the two vacuums (one for upstairs, one for downstairs), computer stuff, reams of papers, crafts items beyond believable and all the usual stuff. It was too much to even contemplate. It threw me into a spin-dizzy.

And thus began the purge. There was no way I would be able to move all this.

Plants do not do well in such circumstances so I knew I would have to part with all of them. Not just some, but all.

The tons of odd items all around the place - those would all have to go. Books weigh a ton when packed in a box, just too heavy to lift so.....books would have to go.

The abundance of extras - extra towel sets, extra linens, extra candles and candle holders, and then the souvenirs.

It all had to be sorted through and divided into four piles: keep, toss, donate, sell. Keep, meant having to pack it and move it. <sigh>

Toss meant truly letting go. (arggggggggg!!!!)

Donate meant pretending I didn't care anymore.

Sell - meant placing ads on Craigslist (and maybe also Facebook and NextDoor). It meant meeting up with people. It meant giving out my address and phone number. It meant seeing things go away.

I set up a table out in front of my place in the gravel, with a sign saying 'free' and started putting things on the table each day. Things like plants, candle holders, magazines, coaster sets, etc.

I have gone through shoes, magazines, and assorted other things asking myself to get rid of as much as possible continuing to use moving as an incentive to keep carrying on with the purge. I keep telling myself "you would have had to do this, to get rid of this, if you really were moving" and it has helped to keep me plugging away at it.

It's awful though. I hope at the end of it I feel lighter, freer, and accomplished.

What is worse than raining cats and dogs?

Hailing taxis.