You can't take it
with you
Having spent the
last six days settling my 82 year old Mother in an adult care
facility,
and emptying her
home of nearly 60 years,
I fully realize
both the sacred and superfluous nature of the stuff
we gather over
the course of our lives.
While I would
have to hold her out as an exemplary student of
decrapification,
her years of
collecting every card, invitation, letter and announcement that ever crossed her
path
left ample room
to stop and reflect on what is really important.
The ultimate
question is what will those that follow you care about all your
stuff.
And conversely,
if you spend your life gathering stuff on behalf of those who will
follow,
will they
care?
From my own
personal experience,
I would suggest
that if your stuff is not organized and labeled,
it's
significance will likely be overlooked and your stuff
ultimately
abandoned by
those for whom you gathered it.
It leaves those
who follow you feeling guilty for not caring about your
stuff,
and you, if you
are around and able,
resenting the
act that you wasted your time
holding onto the
stuff in the first place.
What's the
point?
In
conclusion, knowing out front that you can't take your stuff
with you,
and realizing
the tentative nature of others interest,
don't carry the
burden of being the next generation's storage closet.
If you are not
regularly enjoying the benefit of keeping stuff around,
and you can't
pass it on down the line to it's intended recipient,
don't bother
keeping it around.