Cleaning day
I really dislike holidays. I normally end up just sitting at home watching Sarah read a book. She’s never too keen on doing anything except to go out and get food (always the same food too).
So, instead I have been cleaning all the junk out of my room in preparation for leaving.
I have always tried not to be too attached to material things. One of the reasons I don’t wear any jewellery or even a watch is the fact that I don’t like the idea of being too emotionally attached to any material object.
On the other hand, I am very sentimental and I’m a hoarder. So, against my best efforts, my cupboard is literally brimming with things I have just never had the heart to throw away.
- An easel my parents bought for me under the mistaken impression that I might actually work up the motivation to do some painting.
- Books I bought with the intention of reading but never “found the time”: from Les Miserables to self-help to amateur electronics, they are all just a little more faded for having sat in my cupboard for years.
- A card from my last job, wishing me well and telling me how much I will be missed.
- Business cards meticulously collected from the conference I went to but that I have never had the chance to followed up on.
- Countless piles of paper, with notes for great ideas, thoughts on philosophy, religion, art, short stories. All only partially finished.
- Boxes and boxes of gifts well-meaning people have bought for me, only to be piled up with the boxes and boxes of stuff I have bought for myself.
- I used to collect coins. Now it’s just a box full of useless bits of metal I am going to have to find a creative way to dispose of.
All of this will be gone to the dump soon enough. These past 4 years of my life have been very safe and unchallenging. Work and life has been far too easy. Here’s hoping the next 4 will be at least a little more interesting, if not more of a challenge 
May 5th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Well. I don’t wear a watch either - but that’s cos I don’t like things on my wrists very often, and because I like the freedom of not knowing what the time is a lot of the time. And the only jewellery I own - well, 90% of it anyway - is gifts - because I like things ‘because’ it came from person x or person y. So I think you shouldn’t take everything to the dump. If there are any exciting books there then I will definitely give them a good home (eg Les Miserables - our school library only had volume 1 so that’s all I’ve read, and it’s my favourite musical of all time…). And I think you should keep your card from your last job. Things like that are important. When you’re 80 it’ll be cool to remember how much you were appreciated.
Also I wouldn’t have thought work and life have been too easy over the last few months…. and it’s interesting that you say ‘work and life’ as if they are as important as each other…
And I love holidays!!!! You do have more friends than just Sarah, if she wants to curl up and read a book (sounds nice!) then you can do stuff with other people… like me
May 13th, 2006 at 8:24 am
If I may add, you are missed greatly by us!! Some of us still hope one day you will come back, even though it might be harder than winning lotto, but hey, everyone can ‘hope’ and ‘dream’.
Well, sorry we were away at that time, else you could have visited?
Well…. I used to have more stuf than you do, still have a lot. I still have a birthday card dated back when I was in Elementary School. It was made by my classmates as a gift. I still kept 2 boxes of all the old letters etc. (thank god we have emails now) Only until I started to run out of room, I’ve donated a lot of things people given me as gifts…I think they have a better use in other place than in my possession… (stuffed in the shelves unused).
But yeah… it’s not easy I think. Even if you (well me) think all attachments (to things or people) are unreal in the absolute sense. Nothing lasts, sometimes not even this life time. The concept of forever is.. well… funny.
Yet, you still keep things because it means something else to you because someone gave it to you.. etc.
They have people studying this in consumer research… a lot of the time, things become part of your concept of ’self’.. etc. So yeah.. but anyways…
Oh, coin collections? I have some, but I have heaps of stamps… in a BIG box, heavy as ^^;;
Watch? I like my watch… but I tend to take it off after I get home. Or get to the office. I only wear it when I’m on the go…. so opposite to Lara, I like to know what time it is. But the strange thing is, I wear my watch on the right hand… even though I’m a right hander.
I suppose I better go do something else now