Thursday, August 25, 2011

Down to Just a Couple of Boxes. (that's the goal)

The last few weeks we've made progress purging. We even made progress on digital purging, and have a 500G tiny hard drive to clear electronically down to only one computer. We're still deciding whether we can share a computer, lest you find us self-righteous. Do we look like we can share?
Young in Cape Town
Trying to avoid being stressed in this process seems to be a recipe for disaster. It works better for me to be ok with the stress and own it, and then ask [God] if I can let it go. Sometimes I'm hard on myself for not managing my world better-- when it's actually helpful to be kind to myself, because then I'm kinder to other people. It's fake to be hard on myself and then affirm someone else's day-to-day struggles as normal.

Eug's first time on Table Mountain, soon before Noah was born. Pictures like this makes the purging less painful. Though not the farewells.
So far we're focused mainly on giving away and selling things that we don't use every day (certain curtains, linens, books, knick knacks, blankets, etc.) Later, when we're closer to our move date, we'll start to get rid of furniture, clothes, etc.) There are plenty of things in the mix that we wouldn't ordinarily get rid of-- curtains, blankets, sheets, pots and pans. These are not bad things to have. As such, it's unsettling to set aside just a couple of boxes of photos, books, and baby clothes.

Soon before Noah's birth we got to go to Florida!
So getting rid of everything is hard; it reminds me of a scene in The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. Eustace, the "odious cousin" is changed into a dragon, and the lion Aslan comes and digs his claws deep into the dragon's flesh, peeling off layer upon layer until Eustace is a boy again. Eustace describes it as painful but not painful at the same time. And at the end of it, he's himself. Perhaps this image is a little deep for the mundane act of letting go of stuff, but perhaps the process can be shallow or deep, depending on my choice. I figure if I can get  that feeling of refreshment, I'll take it!

Older, with more of us

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