Honey We Shrunk The Whare
Two weeks ago Gill and I took another big life stage step. We downsized our home. We now have two bedrooms instead of four, a 370 instead of 660 sqm property, and a whole lot less ‘stuff!’ (Big shout out to all the friends and whanau who helped out on moving day in the 34 degree heat.)
I’ve gotta say, it was hard letting go. I clung on to our old home like a two-year-old to his ‘blanky.’ It was familiar, safe, warm and inviting. Sure, it needed a lot of work done on it, but the property was spacious and welcoming and delightfully located. Gill and I loved tending, tinkering, entertaining and living in it, and the thought of downsizing honestly felt a bit overwhelming at times. All the stuff we’d gathered up to make it comfortable and liveable was important – at least in our own minds! Gill and I had good reasons to retain all our kitchenware, furniture, tools, toys (including six bikes and a rickshaw), a pile of ‘might come inhandy one day’ items, clothes, old documents and papers, memorabilia (including two bags of our grown-up kids’ old teddies and soft toys etc. etc. etc… I know, I know… first world problems can feel so nauseatingly consuming and compelling.
Now we’re in our new place… and guess what… a big bunch of that Oh So Important Stuff has gone. FB Marketplace, Salvation Army, Nurse Maude, friends and family, recycling centres, clothing bins and Metro waste swallowed it all up. Half the items in my wardrobe and three bikes have disappeared! Gill is stoked. I’m a little unsure now what all the fuss was about, and a bit perplexed about my reluctance to let go.
I’m also wondering what a downsize of my spiritual house might look like. I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff in there that needs to go. If anyone wants a well-kept box of shiny self-deprecation tools let me know… on second thoughts… I’ll take that to the Metro Waste.
Ecclesiastes 3:1,6
1 There is a time for everything.
There’s a time for everything that is done on earth….
6 …There is a time to keep.
And there’s a time to throw away.