losing things is not always unfortunate

Two years ago, I lived with a rather close friend who had pack rat tendencies similar to my own. I say that without a hint of derision, I promise. I just like to keep things - funny things, old things, things with story, things that are pretty. Needless to say, we had a bunch of STUFF.

My relationship to my stuff has always been bittersweet. I like to look at them, but I've always looked enviously at those homes in decorator magazines/blogs where they only have one or two things adorning their mantel, not 15.

No joke, I have 15 things on my mantel. Fifteen things that are supposed to be there, anyway. There are a few things up there that should be somewhere else.

Needless to say, I aspire to be one of those people who do not collect substantial amounts of STUFF.

This sounds incredibly cheesy, but finding myself moving in with Mike has really given me a great opportunity to limit the amount of STUFF I haul around. I took 4 shoppings bags and a clothes basket worth of STUFF to Goodwill a couple of weeks ago, and I only packed up part of my closet. I see great potential here.