Attachment to the ‘things’

Am I dragging around a lifetime of mental and physical baggage behind me?  I have been.  This blog is about the physical baggage.  The mental baggage will have to wait for another day.

I’ve gotten rid of most the easy things. I’m to the items that I like, the ones that have some emotional meaning for me, and/or have monetary value: a variety of tools, art, real paper books, a Bonsai I’ve grown for 15 or 20 years,  house plants, clothing,…you get the idea.  These are the things that I pick up and put back where they were.  There are some things I haven’t even taken out of a the box since I’ve lived in this house.

In order to get past this challenge these are the questions I’m asking myself.

  • Have I seen or thought about this item in the last year?
  • Does it have a practical use on the road?
  • Can I carry it in the motor home?
  • Is it worth paying to store?
  • Does it have monetary value? i.e. can I sell it?
  • What feeling, event, or person from my past does it represent?
  • If I don’t own it, will I still be able to keep the memories that are dear to me?
  • Will a photo of it suffice?
  • Can someone else in my family have better use of this item?
  • Does it feel like me?

I realize that is a lot of questions, but there are a lot of feelings wrapped around some of my physical baggage.
In tossing away the things I know and love, am I suddenly losing my personality? Do I cease to know myself?  And if that is true, am I that shallow that I am defined by things?

Attachment in the present moment is the trap.

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