STUFF

As I had all of my belongings packed up into boxes before I moved to California I found myself in a boggled dilemma of purging.  What should I take with me and what should I get rid of.  I went into closets that I had not been into for years.  Things that I had not looked at because I didn't need it for immediate use.   I saved so much, as many do, thinking "I might need that again!"  I felt like I had purged so much before I left for my new journey.  I threw things away, I donated many things to goodwill, and I even gave some of the things away to my family. I also told myself I do not know where I am going to live and "I might need that there!"
Once I got here to California and I didn't have any of my belongings other then some clothes. I started to think about all of my stuff that was making it's own journey here and wondering how much I really would use once it got here.  I also had to find a place to live within a month and that quickly changed when I realized that if I find a place to live I can register my children for school.  Looking at houses I was overwhelmed with where exactly to live.  We decided on the third day that we would rent a place until we knew more about the area.  That too quickly changed to finding an apartment over a house.  All of my thoughts on where I was going to live changed in a matter of weeks if not days. I was looking for someplace close to work and to schools. Some place that would accommodate our family and two dogs.  With moving here I had no idea what the area looked like and I did not do much exploring before I came because I was busy making time for family and closing up my life there in Indiana.
I know that I am not alone when I say that I have a collection of things that I believed I needed to save for what I do not know.
Once my stuff arrived here and it was being unloaded off of a truck I stood there looking at it like "what the heck am I going to do with all of this?"  I have furniture now that will not fit into an apartment.  I have stuff, decorations, childhood memories, clothes, books, papers and more stuff I have no idea what I am going to do with.  I had the movers deliver my stuff in two deliveries.  One to our new apartment and the other to a storage shed.  I have spent the past week and half, which seems like a lifetime, going through the boxes in our apartment wondering where I am going to put my stuff and also purging a few items that I know I really don't or ever needed to hang on to.  I will say purging is refreshing in someways I never imagined would be and I also can say I should have purged way before now.  I am a collector of things such as old belongings of my grandparents.  I have a collection of tea pots that were my grandmothers collection.  I have furniture that was both my grandmothers and Dans grandparents.  I love nostalgic things that someone once used and to know that my family used it to make memories is a feeling I like.  However, what do I do now with all these things that I thought I needed to hang on to?  Do I keep them in storage?  Do I try to sell them?  Do I give them away?
I am thankful in someways that I have this task ahead of me to keep me busy.  I am also frustrated in other ways that I have burden myself with so much stuff I thought I had to have.
Let me end on a note to say "YOU DO NOT NEED ALL OF THAT STUFF!!" "START PURGING NOW, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE TO!"
If you do feel like me that maybe one day you will use it again, I am hear to tell you that NO you won't!!!  If you have the chance you are going to find something else to buy that you have to have to add to the collection of things you already have.
Down sizing is one of the best things I have done with my life.  I will say I never thought or pictured myself living in an apartment again but I am thankful that we made the choice.  It helps us to get rid of all of our stuff we will not use and it gives us time to see the surrounding areas and enjoy our time here, once I am done purging my stuff.