We made a very bold decision to begin selling our own stuff right out from under us. I guess our thought process is that if we don't have a chair to sit in or a bed to sleep in or even a dish to eat dinner from any longer, well then it must be time for us to go.
To begin selling everything we own, we made a very tongue-in-cheek catalog entitled "Grant Estate Sale" with photos and descriptions of all our possessions, furnishings, and appliances. We have been passing this catalog around to our work colleagues, Japanese friends, and anyone who was interested. They all shake their heads at the thought of us getting rid of every single one of our household goods and many of them keep asking for reassurance. "Are you sure you won't want this back later?" "Oh, even your prize tansu? Won't you miss it?"
What we discovered is that even after seeing most of our things spoken for via Post-it note with the buyer's name attached, we really have no sadness or regret that we'll be letting everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) go. In fact, besides the freedom and lightness that we feel every time someone expresses an interest in an item, we feel an overwhelming sense of satisfaction that our things as well as our energy in some way, will go on to live in someone else's space. We wish all of these objects a long and happy life elsewhere.
Acting as if we are leaving after this school year concludes is a leap of blind faith in many ways. It is so much easier and perhaps more logical to stay just one more year. Then perhaps, we should stay one more after that just to be sure. Financial security comes with a heavy price tag. Trading time for money. I don't think we are 100% willing to do that any longer.
So, today I will bid goodbye to our antique tansus, farewell to our treasures from our many travels, and sayonara to the rest of our 'things'. We'll continue acting as if it's all happening for us right now and say hello to being home free.
Lori