The possession trap

Many of our friends have been hearing me (us) talk for the last eight years about our downsizing journey.  And what a journey it has been!  A huge process.  

It took time. 

It took energy and great effort.  

It took diligence and determination.

It took sacrifice.

There were lots of starts and stops.

Two steps forward and three steps back.

Slow progress

Baby steps

And we’re still not done - nor will we be.  

It’s all about phases.  

What works for this phase?

What is needed for this season of life?

We finished many of those phases and have started new ones.

We moved into smaller spaces and then even smaller.

After we sold the tree farm, we rented a small storage unit to keep selected things - not knowing what we might need or want in the future.  At that time we had no idea whether we might ever own property again or where we might end up.

...

And now here we are.

We did decide to settle down again in one spot.

We did buy another house.

And we are happy for the things that we kept.  

Well, MOST of them. ... Okay; I admit that there are still lots of things to get rid of - but they are mostly in the form of boxes that I must still sort through.  In terms of furnishings, we are pretty happy about what we kept.

In fact, I cannot count the times when we’ve shaken our heads in wonderment about how well things fit in to our new circumstances.  Over and over we marvel about something - like that cabinet Bob built when we were first married.  It was custom-designed to fill a specific gap in the old kitchen in Grandpa Frank’s farmhouse that we rented that year.  We built our own house a year later and that cupboard served us well until Bob built the regular kitchen cabinets into that huge kitchen.  A few years later it became a changing table in the nursery.  I think it became an office cabinet for a few years and I’ve lost track of what else.  …  Well, we kept that cabinet and it is once again a much-needed kitchen cabinet filling an important gap.

So many other versatile pieces have ended up being “just right” in the new/old place.  Mostly other cabinets that Bob has built through the years.  

In the early years he built me a beautiful lighted curio cabinet with glass doors.  A couple times in our moves to smaller places, it served other purposes as well - mostly for books as I recall. 

There was the era of taking down old barns and reclaiming the wood for other purposes - like tables, shelves, cabinets and even cabins.  After careful calculations, he used some of that barn wood to build a cabinet the perfect size and shape for our cherished big brown dishes.  

He really did build many, many different cabinets.   And no, we didn’t keep ALL of them. Our daughters are now using several of them.  

At any rate, as we have settled in and set up housekeeping once again, we have been amazed at how few things we need to purchase.  Basically just something to sit on - a love seat and matching chair.  And we did not mind - because I don’t think we had ever purchased new furniture before - in our entire lives!  We had always been blessed with hand-me-downs which served us well through foster kids and decades of youth parties.  We were grateful for every couch and chair that was given to us through the years and we pretty much wore them into the ground - so even if we hadn’t downsized them, it would have been time to replace them anyway. 

And, speaking of something to sit on...  
We did keep the rocking chair my mom rocked me in and later I rocked my daughters and eventually my grand-kids.  I am so glad that it survived the downsizing.

...

Sure enough; here we are.

Settling in again and putting down roots.
We love our old house in the city.

This morning I posted a lovely picture from our porch on Facebook.  
A friend posted this comment:  

"So tell me...
"What’s it like to get rid of all your clutter/stuff, travel and then settle back down?
"Have you managed to not fall into the "possession trap" again?"

That’s a fair question.

In fact, it is a great question.

My first response was that feeling of gratitude as I suddenly remembered how many of those things have worked out so well.  

And then lots of thoughts and feelings began scampering through my head. 

And then I thought maybe I would write about it.  

So I did.
And you've just read my answer. 
Well, part of it...
Yes, we have managed very well - maybe better than we might have guessed.

We also realize that we have changed.  We now appreciate simplicity so much more and we are committed to keeping our lives and our house free from clutter.

But that's another story...
Stay tuned.