I’ve been thinking about stuff – the objects we own and that fill the places we live.

When we moved in 2019, we had to come to terms with our stuff. It was a really, really, really profound learning experience and gave us a whole new perspective on stuff.

We gave away stuff to Goodwill and to other places. But we discovered that we had a lot of stuff that nobody wanted.

For example, we had a sofa and armchair that we really liked but wouldn’t fit in our new apartment. The fabric had a beautiful pattern. But charitable organizations only wanted furniture with solid-colored fabrics. We had a hard time begging anyone to take our pretty furniture. 

And then there was the stuff in our garage. Our realtor told us, “Empty out the garage. It has to be completely clear.” So, we paid a man a lot of money to clear out the garage and recycle our stuff.

He didn’t recycle anything. We watched with a sense of horror as he crushed and trashed all the objects, bottles, gardening tools, mulch, etc. Only a little while before, I had been using these tools and other stuff to tend to my beautiful garden. Now all of this was being dumped as trash.

The garage-trashing was a life lesson.

Our stuff is time-limited. Like ourselves. Some of our stuff might find a new home—for a while. But not forever. No thing is forever. Not our sofas or our garden tools… Not us.

What we have is today—this moment…

So, say “hello” to your sofa this morning. Is your sofa soft and comfortable? Curl up on your sofa. Take a deep breath. Enjoy your time together.