Cleaning House
Right before my wedding, we went to the dump.
Riverbend Landfill in McMinnville is a pretty nice place, all things considered. Sure, there's a smell. There's always a smell around garbage. However, there's also fairly clean recycling bins and a nice delivery system. It allows us to get rid of all our garbage, and being on a farm, we generally have quite a bit.
As I'm sorting the recycling and throwing out the rusty, bent chicken wire, rotten wood, and oodles of wine bottles, I'm thinking about the things in my life that I hold. Some of it I keep because it's valuable, like the grams of gold. Some of it I keep because it has memories, like my great-grandfather's railroad pocket watch, or my terribly beat up Snoopy doll. Some of it I keep because it's shoved in a corner and not in sight, but not bothering me: like the extra coffee grinder or the pile of memorabilia from College.
Some of it I keep because I'm too angry to get rid of it. Like pictures of my first marriage.
And some of it I just throw out. Like bent chicken wire.
It's much easier to acquire than throw away. Acquisition seems to make us feel like we're succeeding. However, every thing you acquire takes a little bit of our time and consciousness, when it exists in our world. There's a mortgage, or storage, or a stubbed toe when we trip over it.
Throwing away feels like a loss. And loss hurts, even when it's the loss of something that is generally considered worthless.
That chicken wire? Could be an art project. Or it could hold chickens. That rotten wood? Could be compost. Or it might burn well. The wine bottles? There's the awesome plan for making wine bottles into bricks.
However, there are only so many hours in the day, and at some point, some projects and ideas have to be let go.
[Writing Prompt: Cleaning house - Is there “junk” in your life? What kind? How do you get rid
of it?]
Riverbend Landfill in McMinnville is a pretty nice place, all things considered. Sure, there's a smell. There's always a smell around garbage. However, there's also fairly clean recycling bins and a nice delivery system. It allows us to get rid of all our garbage, and being on a farm, we generally have quite a bit.
As I'm sorting the recycling and throwing out the rusty, bent chicken wire, rotten wood, and oodles of wine bottles, I'm thinking about the things in my life that I hold. Some of it I keep because it's valuable, like the grams of gold. Some of it I keep because it has memories, like my great-grandfather's railroad pocket watch, or my terribly beat up Snoopy doll. Some of it I keep because it's shoved in a corner and not in sight, but not bothering me: like the extra coffee grinder or the pile of memorabilia from College.
Some of it I keep because I'm too angry to get rid of it. Like pictures of my first marriage.
And some of it I just throw out. Like bent chicken wire.
It's much easier to acquire than throw away. Acquisition seems to make us feel like we're succeeding. However, every thing you acquire takes a little bit of our time and consciousness, when it exists in our world. There's a mortgage, or storage, or a stubbed toe when we trip over it.
Throwing away feels like a loss. And loss hurts, even when it's the loss of something that is generally considered worthless.
That chicken wire? Could be an art project. Or it could hold chickens. That rotten wood? Could be compost. Or it might burn well. The wine bottles? There's the awesome plan for making wine bottles into bricks.
However, there are only so many hours in the day, and at some point, some projects and ideas have to be let go.
[Writing Prompt: Cleaning house - Is there “junk” in your life? What kind? How do you get rid
of it?]
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