Tuesday, November 30, 2010

No more purging!

Quote du jour: The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss - an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. - is sure to be noticed.
- Søren Kierkegaard

I come by my pack rat tendencies honestly -- I inherited them. When I moved up to Oregon, my mother sent me a box of personal papers (birth certificate, baptismal record, etc.).

I was touched that even after bringing seven other children home from the hospital (and giving birth to another one who never made it home), she'd still saved every single scrap of paper that she'd been given in the hospital, all the birth information, hospital bill (she spent four days in the hospital, it cost $7, thank you USAF), and every single "Congratulations on the birth of your child" card.

Until I started looking at the cards, and found that some of them were "Congratulations on the birth of your son!" and mentioned the name of #7 child. And there was a birth announcement from 17 years earlier on the birth of #1 child. Also, she'd included the summer school report card from #2 child, and the Band and Orchestra report card from #4 child. Basically, the contents (except for the one about #1 child) were collected the year I was born, or from a couple years before that, and dumped in the box.

(The birth announcement re #1 child had been sent to my grandmother, who'd saved it for 18 years and then sent it back to my mother. Presumably it was intended for #1 child, but ended up being saved in my box for another... well... 47 years.)

It's not my fault that I create little time capsules of paperwork and carry them around with me for decades. It's heredity.

[Note: also, of course, my mother was working full-time and had 8 children living at home, i.e. she came home and worked too. I only work one job.]

Goal of the month: This is the last day of the 30-day Purge. I think I can say I survived. I would like to say I feel freer, but really all I feel is relieved. And unlike Kierkegaard, I don't miss all the stuff that I've been holding onto for so long. The stuff probably doesn't miss me either.
Done!




Exercise du jour:
200 Squats Challenge
13
13
18
18
13
13
13
max (at least 34)
Done! And, may I say, @#!$%$!#@!!!!! Thank you. I needed to say that. I might need to repeat this week. That was only 135 squats. Felt like 535 instead.


An extra star for making NaBloPoMo, 30 days straight of blogging.



HBBC:
Today, I was good. Well, good for me.
20 minutes yoga, 20 ellipticalling, 3 miles walked, veggies consumed.
6

8 comments:

Kelly the Happy Texan said...

Purging can be difficult and freeing at the same time. My best purges have come while moving. After packing boxes for days you decide that you don't need to keep certain things just so you don't have to pack another box.

My mom, however, still holds on to every thing. Old tvs, broken toys, baby teeth, etc. LOL

Congratulations on your purge. And the squat challenge. Legs of steel.

C said...

I'm really impressed with your month o' purgin'. I've been mocked for not having enough stuff. A side effect of moving every few years, I guess. Of course that doesn't include the mound of furniture I have at my mom's house. Maybe someday I'll actually get to use it myself. ;)

Nitmos said...

I can't stand the thought of my youngest growing up and realizing we saved only half the shit of hers that we did for my son. So, I'll probably just throw half of his shit away and call it even.

Merry said...

That's fair :)

messymimi said...

Yes, it can be hereditary.

No, you probably won't ever miss any of it.

Great job!

jenb said...

Well done!
I just hope my sons will be as gracious when they see what I have saved all this time.
And yes, it is hereditary.

English Rider said...

I don't know if you select your quote du jour personally. It would seem so as it relates somewhat to this post. This quote is too true and it is interesting that the loss off a wife is listed after five dollars. At least we know where we stand,$4.99 or less!

Merry said...

I choose the Q du J on whim, mostly. I try to pick one that fits the post or one that I find amusing.

I did wonder about Mr K. referring to dollars. I'm assuming that when the quote was translated from Danish, someone translated that part a bit freely.