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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Clearing Out!



What is there about having a good old fashioned clear-out of garbage from the garage that feels so good? The answer to that probably lies somewhere in the fact that we do it so rarely, and it requires a certain recklessness to accomplish.

When I pulled up stakes in Bermuda nine years ago to move to Spain I went through an experience that no one should be subject to. Firstly, you should know that I am a squirrel – I tuck things away. I normally throw away nothing much. If it’s save-able then it goes into the garage. Why? Because, it’s my life. I sometimes sit down and wonder what will I leave to tell the story of what I have been in this world. How will I be judged, and by what residue? I think these are important questions that deserve serious answers.

So, with that in mind, imagine how I must have felt to do a complete turnaround and go in and viciously throw out things that I put away for a day of need. Those days actually do arise, and when they do I feel so vindicated that I saved some idiotic thing that I could buy at any ordinary store. Never mind that it took up space, and collected dust for five years or more.

The experience in Bermuda was really quite shocking. After having weekend cash & carry sales from my house for several weekends, I started getting restless and began making runs to the garbage drop-off point. The guard there suggested that I should have garage sales as I was showing up with so much.

I developed a system in the end of not opening anything I had not looked into for at least five years. I simply tossed the box into the fires. It seems to have worked, as I have not moaned about the loss of anything significant in nine years. However, I have to tell you that it takes a lot of nerve, as heaven knows what was in those boxes.

The trick seems to be not to let things pile up like that. How do we not put things away in boxes that we won’t look at for the next five years? What is the system that can be employed to stop us from having to go through, (choose one), the angst or excitement of throwing things away?

It was such a dusty job of pulling out stuff and piling it into my old Fiat station wagon, and when that could carry no more, driving it all to the trash drop-off. If I had some other way of getting home I might have even left the car there, as it really is ready for the scrap yard.

I realize that we usually reserve these exercises for the Spring, but just because it’s Fall is no reason not to take action when the spirit moves us, so I did and got it done. Now, I feel good, my garage looks bigger and more lightsome, and my wife is worried.

Stay tuned for Clearing Out II, due to appear in 2013.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael