A Tale Of Two Trailers.

by Jean Marie Moffa
July 15, 2005

So, we've finally moved, and my, we're in the thick of it right now. Months of transient living behind us, weekends spent painting until we dropped (onto sleeping bags in an empty house, 5 hours from our apartment), we are now reunited with our previously stored household goods.

When the movers came to pack us up in Bloomington, they arrived in a 53-foot trailer. While my daughters were awe-struck, and my husband noticeably impressed, I found myself in nothing short of a panic. (How could we possibly own enough to fill a 53-foot trailer? Can four people on this planet really need that many possessions?) My mind was reeling, heart racing, entire body agitated, as I paced from one room to the next, all three days of packing and loading, trying to focus on the sizable job at hand.

This being said, you can imagine my condition when not one, but two 53-foot trailers arrived, three months later, in front of our new home in Brighton, ready to unload our possessions. (Could it be true? Were my fears confirmed? Do our possessions really reproduce in storage?) No, no, I was reassured that despite the appearance, we had no more coming back to us than had left us. (A simple explanation: containers used for warehouse storage do not load as efficiently into trailers as the items themselves.) I had honestly hoped that the truck would be smaller - that there would have been some unexplainable loss to us - that only a fraction of our things would come back our way... say, just enough to fill a few minivans? Regardless of this warehouse explanation, I will not forget the sight of those two 53-foot trailers in front of our home. And I hope never to forget. For, you see, it has become a quest of mine to purge possessions from our lives.

While relatively new to this process, I can say that, despite what my tales of trailers may lead you to believe, I've made some good strides over the past year, and if there is something that the boxes and chaos of this move of mine can do for you, let it be this: to inspire you to simplify your own life at home, one possession at a time.

It's an invigorating and challenging journey, and one that I've found does get markedly easier, with continued efforts. Start with the following guideline - one that has kept working for me, month after month. As you take a keen look at the possessions you've acquired in your home, ask yourself these questions:

- "Do I use it?"
- "Is it beautiful?"
- "Does it generate any emotional responses in me that are not what I want and choose to feel?" (Or, more simply put, "Does it make me feel how I like to feel?")

These questions will lead you down a path of creating a space and place for yourself that supports who you are and what you love. These questions, if you are true to them, will guide you to an awareness and a reality within your own home that is nothing short of liberating.

In the months preceding our move, I embarked on the path of simplification - a path that, for me, will be a lifetime journey. It all began with the reading of an inspiring book, "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui," by Karen Kingston. Shortly thereafter, I jumped in with two feet, and paid for the services of a personal organizer, a woman I needed to help me gain understanding and control of one of the clutter hot spots of our house, the kitchen desk/paper flow area. Fueled by my progress, I was ready to go solo on cabinets and closets, in preparation for putting our house on the market. Garage sale, many donations, the final release of our baby things (time to accept the decision made a few years ago: we're done having babies...).

And now, as I unpack each box on this end of the move, I am continuing to ask these three questions. The piles for garage sale and donation materials are growing at a rate which stuns me. And excites me. And frees me.

For, you see, less things around me means that I have less to take care of - less to organize, less to dust, less to fear breaking, etc.... And less to take care of means more time to enjoy using what I consciously decide to keep. And, most importantly, more time to enjoy living a life that is based in relationships and experiences, not in the care taking of possessions.

- "Do I use it?"
- "Is it beautiful?"
- "Does it make me feel how I like to feel?"

These are three excellent questions that help us to use our possessions for the good. Three questions that help us to honor growth and changes we have made in our lives. (In releasing things that no longer feel like who we are, we make a conscious choice to support our on-going, internal process of becoming.) Three questions that keep us masters of our possessions, not victims of them.

The world we live in is a challenging and complex place. Much of what we experience seems - and oftentimes is - outside of our control. What surrounds us in our homes is very much within our control, and, can function to empower us, to bring us peace, and to solidify our resolve and energy to bring this power and peace to the world outside our door.

Consider simplifying your possessions. Consider owning, consciously. Consider creating a personal space that supports and fuels you, inside and out.

- "Do I use it?"
- "Is it beautiful?"
- "Does it make me feel how I like to feel?"

With these three questions, you have the tools you need. And the hope of never seeing a 53-foot trailer in front of your house.