Essentials

Pack only what is essential. These were the instructions I gave my kids last week as we packed up our home and filled our suitcases. We sold our house and had to be out on 11/23/15.  We close on our new house on 12/4/15.  So we have about two weeks between where we are wandering – living out of our suitcases, visiting family for Thanksgiving in Missouri and Oklahoma, and eating free hot breakfasts at the Brentwood Residence Inn. We are on Day 1 of this journey.  I’m sure I’ll have lots to report. But here’s what I’m really noticing so far – pack only what is essential.  We had to pack in our luggage what we needed for those two weeks, and it really made me so aware of what we really cannot live without.

We filled bags full of clothes, toys, and other things to take to goodwill. We sold furniture and home goods.  We recycled and threw things away.  Then what we wanted but was not essential right now went into storage.  What was essential stayed with us for these 2 weeks. And our essentials might sound strange to you, but yours might sound strange to us.  This is all okay.  We’re not supposed to be the same. I have a favorite blanket that had to come.  Carl cannot live without the random music playlists he dances to on his iPad.  Woody packed a soccer ball.  Wilnes had a drawer full of items that he wasn’t sure he would need these 2 weeks but said “but what if I do need them?” Which told me it was essential to him to feel like he could access his comforts.  Todd packed his work backpack.  I packed other things like sea salt, essential oils, and a heating pad. And these are just a few of our essentials, but they represent our personalities and lives so plainly. 

I drove up to the storage unit to drop some things off and saw all 3 of my boys kicking a soccer ball around outside the rows of storage units. They were laughing and having so much fun.  There they were in the middle of all these rows of people’s “stuff,” and I couldn’t help but cry with happiness and peace. It was such a reminder to me to notice the beauty of simplicity and relationship in the midst of the chaos of moving and storing. Everything that was essential was playing right in front of me or packed up in the jeep to go with us. 

And of course I would be so sad to lose my favorite chair in storage.  I’m not trying to be all “hey, just go sell all your stuff and live off the love of your family.”  I am looking forward to our new house and getting all my items back out to make “home.”  But on this leg of the journey, I continue to notice and be really thankful for the essentials I am carrying with me.  And I enter this holiday season being so mindful that the random toy on the Target shelf would just go to goodwill or storage eventually.  I want to focus on what is essential as I think about myself and loved ones during this time of gratitude and gift-giving…what will enrich our lives, personalities, and truest selves?

If you had to pack up most of your belongings and keep just a few things with you…

~What would you sell or give away? Why?

~What would you throw away? Why?

~What would you put in storage for later? Why?

~What is essential to you that you need to keep with you? Why?

~What do you notice being most thankful for?

~How does thinking about these questions impact your view of the holidays and gift-giving?