Since I have decided to move to another country alone and start all over, I know that in reality my life as I know it… no longer is.. my life as I know it!? I assume I will begin to change as the different variables that are associated with my life here in America will disappear, and new ones will arise once I reside down under.
One step towards this move is the process of letting go of 99 percent of my possessions…my stuff..my crap. I am only allowed to bring about 2 suitcases full of this crap, which is not much considering I have 28 years of life to pack. So as much as I hate to admit it, the chances of my tutus and book collection making the cut are as slim as me winning a spelling B. Getting rid of material items has never been hard for me because well, I don’t care for them, and frankly, I HATE SHOPPING! But after having a yard sale today, and actually watching people walk away with MY things that I LOVE.. for the price of a freakin chicklet ….
I felt something.
A sense of my personal property being violated, maybe? A sense of crap! Uhhhh.. that’s all my crap, come back!
The sight of people rummaging through my clothes, books, costumes, posters, knickknacks and then throwing them around as if they had no value what so ever bothered me, really bothered me.
“Yea, that red dress you just tossed on the grass! I bought that for a very special occasion and had one of the best nights in that dress!!”
“Oh, those boots you just offered 25 cents for? I saw my favorite band 3 times in those shoes!”
“Hey, you girl! Who just bought by favorite tutu! You better dance your ass off in that thing!!”
As silly as it seems, all these thoughts + a thousand more raced through my mind as each item was slowly taken away from me. Everything else that was not sold was placed aside and given to charity, so at least that put a smile on my face.
Now I am down to just about 2 tubs of clothes, a huge leap of faith, and of course, my LED light up bra – shhh…no judging 🙂
Moving out of the country and consolidating my things also means organizing and storing all of my keepsakes. Talk about taking a stroll down memory lane. I saw things I forgot ever even happened, and people and experiences I forgot ever even existed. As a Cancer, I was born screwed into being a very sentimental person. Therefore, I save the most random things and those are the things that tend to hold the most value to me.
From finding my first and only baby blanket, which I carried around with me 24/7 never letting out of my sight for the first 5 years of my life. (Only if I was that good holding on to iPhones!)
To old love letters from boys in school, which trust me, I did not hesitate to embarrass their pants off when I found them 😉 I found a beer an ex-boyfriend brewed for me 6 years ago. I came across my old Girl Scouts Daisy uniform I wore when I was 5. Found my first dance team audition number I received when starting high school. The script and a call sheet of the movie I starred in when I was 2o years old. Plus many out of a billion concert ticket stubs I saved.
“Now that I have opened that bottle of memories they’re pouring out like wine, crimson and bittersweet.”
― Ellen Hopkins, Impulse
To say that writing about what I experienced today was easy, would be a complete lie. Going from getting rid of all my stuff, to then going through old memories of my entire life.. It was quite.. emotional. I just cannot wrap my head around why I was getting worked up on nonsensical material items from the yard sale.
Things don’t make me happy. They never have. I just don’t get it?
I thought about it all day and night and finally, it clicked! I thought to myself and realized, you know what does make me happy? Memories. Memories make smiles. Memories make me richer, not materials. I know the real treasures are in my head and my heart, not in that book I just sold to some girl, who will most likely end up using it as a coaster for her bong. This is why I will always insist on this: Instead of buying me some shirt I will forget I ever owned give or take 4 years, let’s go rock climbing, let’s take a road trip, how about a nice hike, go to the zoo perhaps.
MAKE ME FEEL STINKING RICH FROM MEMORIES.
The more I realized and reconfirmed this to myself, the more I started feeling back to normal (well, MY normal ). I got tricked by my own emotion and forgot for a moment that it is the memories connected to these items, not the actual items themselves that are important to me. Now I am smiling and staying positive during this process once again. Woot Woot!
Because I know…
and always have….
The best things in life aren’t things 🙂
<3 Michelle
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that is so awesome!!!!!
Thank you 🙂
Fantastic article!
thank you! 🙂
Great post. I too moved to Australia with just two suitcases of belongings. I remember handing over so many prized belongings to charity shops. But in the last 12 years have made up for it in my new found country. Hope your move goes well.
Thank you so much, I am sure I will make up for it as well:)
Totally right!
Though leaving my book collection behind when i moved still makes me a little sad… :/
But other than that – good memories are all anyone really needs (:
Very true 🙂
All the best with your new adventures!
Thank you!!! 🙂
your new adventure sounds most magnificent! here’s to having a fantastic time 😉
Thank you!!! 🙂
you’r welcome;) :adventure mode- I look forward to following your ‘down_under’ experiences! best of fortunes
It’s most definitely true. But before we discover this, so many things accumulate. But indeed it lies in memories, perhaps images, where things have little meaning except for the memories they conjure. You’re quite right to part with 99%. But i know it’s hard.
Good luck!
I did the same thing about 10…oh…11 years ago! Moved to Sydney after one year of art school and got my degree down there. Amazing place!
I rarely go beyond looking at the Gravatar information when someone new “likes” one of my posts and I don’t recognize them.. I’m glad I did. May your transition be smooth, your travel safe and your adventures plenty because (to paraphrase a favorite old song) these memories can’t wait.
Best of luck.
G
Thank you so much for your kinds words 🙂
Man!! I am going through this exact process right now! I on the other hand love shopping, but it is surprising how emotionally attached I am to all of these things, really I can just buy them again. That being said, watching all the girls try on my clothes, and my friends walk away with the items if used to make a house my home has been far more difficult then I’d imagined. On the flip side of this (the way I make myself feel better about it) is that I get to leave a little piece of me with them. I shall follow your blog and get the updates from the experiences you have prior to having my own. P.s. Where abouts are you moving in aus? I am moving from Victoria, Canada to Sydney 🙂
I am moving to Sydney as well!!! 🙂
An awesome sentiment 🙂
And I see now that you’re moving to Sydney. It’s a wonderful place.
feels great, yeah? getting rid of my ‘stuff’ was the best thing I’ve ever done. Congrats, and good luck on your journey 🙂
I so enjoyed reading your blog! first let me thank you for stopping by mine! i was felt led to stop by and thank you! now i see you’re on your way down under! what a wonderful experience for you…i am following your blog and hopefully will get to learn more about you and your new life! i wish you the very best and look forward to hearing of your new adventures! 🙂
Ahh! I did the same thing before taking off to backpack and nearly cried seeing all my stuff march out the door. Props for getting through it…the cash is going to be so worth it when you get to Sydney 🙂
I hope you love Australia, I hope your stack of memories gets richer and more beautiful with the passing years. Thank you for following my blog
I lived out of a suitcase for a year, and when I came back I was so overwhelmed by my closet full of stuff that I threw away most of it haha!
Hilarious blog😆
Hope you are warmly welcomed by our fellow Sydneysiders as most overaeas visitors are
I am right there with you, experiences, not tangible possessions, are key for me. Experiencing life brings so much more then possessions or money can buy. Excited to read more about your adventures down unda.
Hey hotmess, I got here from a like you left on my ktainthailand.wordpress.com site… but this post resonates! Read this post. https://ktatkins.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/67-embrace-change-go-with-the-flow/ It’s like you are my blogging soulmate. 🙂 We even had many of the same books, from the looks of your photo.
Most excellent luck to you on your Oz adventure!!!
Loved this post and the quotes!!