...Speaking of purging possessions!


Oh my goodness.

Since switching gears from the business world and coming into the world of education 21 years ago, I have accumulated lots of memories, and lots of "stuff". You know, we all have it. It's like the drawer in the kitchen that holds a bit of this, and a bit of that, has suddenly exploded and filled a whole studio!

I have been working gradually to prepare to leave my formal public school teaching career and move into a small private creative practice and semi-retirement, and I cannot fit a whole studio's worth of "stuff" into my already bursting at the seams home.


So what to do? I have been gradually purging, and I find that it is a very satisfying feeling to give things
away to people who can make use of them. For example, my students have been very interested in some of my books and prints. I have a massive collection of books about art and design. Most of my students are just about to enter the world of serious study of these subjects in college.


As I have been preparing to move out of the studio at the beginning of June, I have been giving many of these things to students. I know I could sell them online, but I think it is more satisfying to give them to people who would probably not be able to afford to buy them for awhile. It feels right.

Studio Bear will be impossible to part with.

I am going through my storage unit and my closets and cabinets at home in the same methodical way and trying to compress my possessions. I want to stop being a slave to "stuff" and free myself to think about people. I think that in our logical minds, most of us can clearly understand that more stuff doesn't equate happiness or fulfillment and it makes our daily existence and organization of our lives a bit more complicated. Sometimes we just become emotional about giving away stuff that has been with us for many years. Sometimes (in the case of some people I have known) it is more about a fear that they might not ever have anything like that thing that they are trying to purge again, or a fear of the scarcity of something so satisfying ever again in their life. To that, I have to say "nonsense!" Stuff is not really that satisfying. It is just habitual to collect it. 

My theory is this: if it is broken, if it brings more worry than joy, if it is just "taking up space" or if you have lived without it for a year, you don't really need it. It is a complication.

So here comes a big garage sale, after the school purge. My stuff is piling up, and I am anxious to make my life cleaner, lighter and less complex. Like a nice cold glass of ice water!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci

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