The Things We Carry

Heavy Things - Angie Pickman aka Rural Pearl

He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him. Spanish proverb

Ever noticed how our possessions, possess us, even to the point that we'll stay in an untenable situation just to keep from losing something we value?

I've held on to things I really don't need, merely because the thought of losing them sends me reeling. Why? I don't know. Maybe I'm afraid of change. Maybe I define myself by my stuff. Maybe, without all the stuff, I'll allow myself a different course of action, a new way of seeing my world.

I met a man in Lincoln, Oregon, who had a small knapsack and a bike. He said he'd spent the last year traveling the world. He also said he carried all his possessions with him. I envied him almost to the point of hatred. Could I be like him? Realistically? No. But, I can and will divest myself of clutter, anything that does not serve. And, instead of holding on to possessions, I can get my world down to a few treasured pieces.

At this stage in my life, it's time to fly rather than nest.

Of late, I've been thinking of all the things, ideas, beliefs, people, stuff, I need to lose. Just the thought seems mean-spirited, but in reality, it's healthy to let things, ideas, beliefs, people, stuff, move on once they no longer serve. Yes, that word "serve" sounds mean, but think of it this way, your first love taught you about yourself, set the tone for future relationships, and at some point one of you learned all there was to learn and needed to move on, or one of you had serious committment issues, or one of you was seriously annoying and just had to be dumped. Is it mean to move on? Heartbreaking perhaps, but all relationships change or they have to end.

So, I'm going to break up with most of the stuff in my closet, dining room hutch, all the cupboards, and most certainly, every box in the attic. I am going to give the majority of my books a second chance, though.

I'm reading Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project and it's making me freaking wretched. Of course I realize it is me using the book to batter myself with, but even so, my closet is insanely stuffed with clothes too small that I'm saving for that future date when the heavens will part, heavenly light will shine, and that little black dress will fit. I'm tossing all of it. Anyone out there that is a size 8 and wants some serious designer clothes, send me a note and we'll talk. Otherwise, it's all going to the goodwill. The shoes still fit, so don't ask.

Pickman's "Heavy Things" made me think of all the "stuff" I'm carrying that I really don't need to carry anymore, that I really just don't need at all.

Angie Pickman cut paper art info:
"I enjoy most things visual but am particularly interested in cut-paper art and photography. My life philosophy revolves around achieving simplicity, winnowing away at all the things that are not needed so that the individual can be, dare I say, reduced, to the rawest, purest being possible. I think at this level, one is more readily able to truly observe and take in the natural beauty that exists around us. Cutting paper is metaphorical for this." from ruralpearl.com profile

To see more of Pickman's cut paper art, visit her etsy site, website, and blog: ruralpearl.etsy.com & www.ruralpearl.com & http://ruralpearl.com/blog/?page_id=1035.