Bitten by the meh bug

[valis2]

I've packaged some of the freebies from the freebies entry and they will be mailed tomorrow, so if you've requested something, you might get it by the end of the week, or beginning of next week. Except for a couple things that I'm still scrounging up boxes for.

If you want something, check it out, there are still a few things available! Please!

gina_r_snape asked why I was giving things away. Well, I've been getting rid of stuff for years, really. I was a terrible packrat until I was in college; I lived with my parents a loooong time, and I amassed a lot of stuff (well, the stuff my mom didn't throw away, lol). Eventually, when I knew I was going to move out, I started to cull things.

At this point I'm pretty vicious about my clothing. That first cut so many years ago? I got rid of so much stuff (four garbage bags), but it was really painful. Of course, it didn't help that my mom told me that I'd never be a size 14 again. Well, she's probably right, but it was rough. I had these thoughts--that I'd lose weight, that it was too dear, etc., but eventually I realized that even if I lost weight, the clothes would be out of style--hell, they were already out of style. That's when I started buying at Lane Bryant, and cycling my clothing--if it shrinks, fades, etc., it's out the door. I get a little attached, but not as much.

Then I started applying that to my possessions. I don't have a ton of bric-a-brac, but I got rid of a lot of it. I eBayed a lot of it when I first started my eBay account. That helped me start a good reservoir of feedback.

Then I thought--why am I keeping all of these VHS tapes? Gone.

Then I thought--I should cut down on the videogames. When am I going to plug the Dreamcast back it? Much less the Genesis. So I started going through the games, and got rid of about half of them, and in the next few weeks I'll get rid of the systems and cull the videogames further. Much as I love Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System, I will never go back and play it again--there are too many new games that I want to play, games that are better paced for my life now. I no longer want to play eighteen hours of random enemy encounters just to get enough money for a hovercraft, thank you very much.

My storage room contains a lot of business stuff, and a ton of clothing from a friend who wears a lot of lovely things--I'm going to eBay it, and I now have a rig I can use to photograph the clothing, huzzah.

I'm happier without it. Each act is liberating. I still love the possessions I have (probably too much). The test is--am I joyful about them? Do I use them?

If I add up all of the things I've donated/given away over the last eight years, I am a very happy valis indeed.

(Why give them to the flist? Well, these are some fun things, things that I wasn't certain about giving to SA--and I'm a control freak, ha! I want them to have good homes.)

Comments

[tjwritter.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm right there with donating rather then throwing away. I have discovered a great resource...it's called "Freecycle" and it is a community where you can give what away what you need to, or get what others want to give away. It's just so "grassroots" and I love it. Like Craiglist, but without the creep factor!