Boxes of Time

My packaction was spectacular. So far, 13 boxes have been moved into a lovely cinder block storage facility. While some of the boxes are dense with books and photo albums, many are light as bubble wrap. Since my trip this summer, I have felt this need to be less burdened. Stuff purge. I was able to get rid of items that had fulfilled their purpose, fiction books, worn out clothes, used furniture, old dishes - but I had a hard time with the never used. Blank books, art supplies, Halloween make up - even though, the last time I used clay was for Radolpho, many moons ago (email me if you want to take his space journey with him).

Yesterday, I ran into a girl from my old job, another refugee. She left in February, and traveled to South Africa, New Zealand and other parts of the world. Anywhere she could climb rocks. She looks happier then I have ever seen her. Rather then exchanging snarky remarks about organization politics and stress levels, we looked at pictures and talked about the stuff we accumulated over the years - that we never used or needed. How that stuff alone - could have given us both another year of freedom.