A Decision I know I Cannot Keep

As I am looking at the numerous boxes in our rental house in Bay Area still waiting to be unpacked, I am making a decision that I know cannot be kept - I will try from now on never to accumulate anything that is not absolutely essential. I know – it is futile to make that decision, just as we almost never stick to our New Year’s Resolutions. But when you have spent days unpacking boxes, only to realize that more are still to be done, you can’t help wondering if there is something you could do differently next time you have to move.

The moving company did all the packing, just like last time when we moved from Boston to San Diego. However, at that time, we had only a one-bedroom apartment to move, whereas this time we had a 4-bedroom house to move. In anticipation of the move, we donated an entire bedroom of furniture to Salvation Army. Still, the 4-bedroom rental house right now is completely filled, even though we have decided to leave many boxes of books, movies, framed pictures and decorations in the garage.

I start thinking of ways to minimize the number of personal possessions - now that we are living in the digital age, perhaps we can from now on eliminate the need for all future paper documents and books, CDs and DVDs (sadly we still have some movies on videotapes!). And if we can move into an age when even housework is specialized/outsourced, we may not need much in the kitchen either. Still, I realize that even with that radical approach, we will still have a house full of clothes, furniture, decorations, etc. We human beings are just naturally inclined to horde possessions. In a way, it is perhaps a rather primal instinct to collect, accumulate and hang onto things so that we feel that we have something. Otherwise, we might feel a sense of not belonging anywhere, a sense that we are just travelling through, a sense that we may not truly exist because there is no sign that we do.

Of course, the reality is that we ARE indeed just travelling through this world…