Kinda Like Christmas
One of the things I liked about PCSing when I was active duty was going through my boxes when I got to my new place. I was constantly finding stuff I forgot I had and in an odd way, it made it feel like a Christmas of sorts. It was never anything super amazing; I tended to remember the bigger/more important items I owned. But some small things, such as a video game or a coffee mug, were always rediscovered.
Having had a good amount of my stuff in storage over the last year and a half, I've been finding a ton of stuff I forgot I had while I unpack and settle into my new place. And while some of it is still cool, I'm actually finding myself a bit disappointed with a lot of the items. Now for some of the items, it's because they have a sentimental attachment to a certain someone from the past. But those items actually don't bother me nearly as much as the other stuff. Because it's a ton of junk, at least junk for me.
Dozens of magazines in which I've read nothing more than the cover, old calendars, three to four different souvenirs (i.e. shot glasses, t-shirts, etc.) from the same place (as though I need as many souvenirs as possible to prove I really went to some place), DVDs of movies I know I will never watch again, clothes I've long outgrown, and a host of other odds and ends. At the moment, I'm completely surrounded by junk. I almost feel like I should be on that TV show about people that can't throw anything away.
Having all this junk around bothers me. For one, thinking about the money that's been wasted on all this stuff. And while the reality is if I didn't waste that money on this junk, I probably would've wasted it on something else, I'd like to imagine differently.
For two, this junk is taking up a lot of space right now. And while it is junk in my eyes, I know a lot of it is stuff others could easily put to use. Which means over the next few days (or few weeks more likely), I'm going to be spending a lot of time sorting through stuff, seeing what can go to charity and what can just be thrown out.
On the bright side...
When I was first looking at a lot of this stuff, there was a little fear inside me that much of it was serving as signs that I haven't changed much (if any) over the past few years. Which makes me afraid I may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over (such as buying magazines I know I'll never read). But then I realized the fact that I'm seeing it as junk right now shows some change. Hopefully, that's a sign of better things to come. Or at least a little less money blatantly wasted.
Having had a good amount of my stuff in storage over the last year and a half, I've been finding a ton of stuff I forgot I had while I unpack and settle into my new place. And while some of it is still cool, I'm actually finding myself a bit disappointed with a lot of the items. Now for some of the items, it's because they have a sentimental attachment to a certain someone from the past. But those items actually don't bother me nearly as much as the other stuff. Because it's a ton of junk, at least junk for me.
Dozens of magazines in which I've read nothing more than the cover, old calendars, three to four different souvenirs (i.e. shot glasses, t-shirts, etc.) from the same place (as though I need as many souvenirs as possible to prove I really went to some place), DVDs of movies I know I will never watch again, clothes I've long outgrown, and a host of other odds and ends. At the moment, I'm completely surrounded by junk. I almost feel like I should be on that TV show about people that can't throw anything away.
Having all this junk around bothers me. For one, thinking about the money that's been wasted on all this stuff. And while the reality is if I didn't waste that money on this junk, I probably would've wasted it on something else, I'd like to imagine differently.
For two, this junk is taking up a lot of space right now. And while it is junk in my eyes, I know a lot of it is stuff others could easily put to use. Which means over the next few days (or few weeks more likely), I'm going to be spending a lot of time sorting through stuff, seeing what can go to charity and what can just be thrown out.
On the bright side...
When I was first looking at a lot of this stuff, there was a little fear inside me that much of it was serving as signs that I haven't changed much (if any) over the past few years. Which makes me afraid I may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over (such as buying magazines I know I'll never read). But then I realized the fact that I'm seeing it as junk right now shows some change. Hopefully, that's a sign of better things to come. Or at least a little less money blatantly wasted.
posted by Paul | 11:43 PM
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