Packing, selling and tossing

Hello my faithful readers:

I am smack dab in the middle of trying to move my life to Leuven, Belgium and at this point I'm proud of myself. I'm on the edge though, I'm tense because so far I've donated all of my bedroom furniture, two tv's and air conditioner, but I still have a living room set to sell (even though I've sold some of my other furniture). I'm even thinking of having a stoop sale this weekend to get rid of the remaining things.

This process is harder than I thought it would be because I have a problem. A big problem. No, this is a HUGE problem. I'm a pack rat. I keep any and everything. Christmas cards, tote bags, cd's, books, small children (ok maybe not small children), but you get the general idea. I also have another issue - although I'd like to be able to focus in on getting this done I hate the idea of selling and giving my things away (no matter how little I need them) so instead I find other diversions for my time instead of packing, selling and tossing (which is happening more than I like).

I have collected many things in my 9 years of living here in Brooklyn, NY. By NYC standards I have a large 1 bedroom apartment with an office. I have been working on getting rid of things now for a long time. It all started with my books and CD's nearly a month and a half ago. On one of my favorite websites in the world, Craigslist, I found a guy who was willing to come by and pick my books, CD's and DVD's up. When all was said and done I had sold him almost 350 books and nearly 60o cd's and 30 DVD's. That was a tough day for me because selling these things (especially the books) was like selling off my children. In my head, I dramatically said "They will have a better home now, I couldn't take care of them anymore." Which is true in my case because I'm physically moving away from them.

This packing, selling, tossing process has me thinking about materialism and how my attitude might change by taking a few steps back and getting into the mindset of living as a frugal student again. I have been known to buy a few (LOTS) of shoes, clothes or handbags that I rarely if ever wear. It's like a bit of what I call retail therapy for me and just the little act of purchasing these things (within reason - I don't go into debt for them) makes me VERY happy. So what will I do with a limited budget and limited space in my new environment?

I'm hoping that my experience of scaling down my life will help me to become more streamlined. It's something that I think a lot of Americans could use. We drive big cars (well I don't own a car, but if I did it would probably be HUGE), we eat too much (I definitely do this) and we live beyond our means a lot of times (although I'm proud to say that this isn't an issue for me). I know I'm making lots of generalizations here, but I really hope to learn and grow during my time abroad. I'd like to live and see a different way of life, before I'm too old to appreciate it.

As I continue packing, selling and tossing (through next Tuesday) I urge you to consider a little streamlining in your own life. I know it's something I should have done a long time ago, but complacency kept me thinking oh I can do it at anytime. Now that I have to drill my life down to four bags, I'm taking it a lot more seriously. Take a little time to do an inventory it could change your life!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

P.S. Tonight is my going away party at Volt de Nuit (Belgian Beer bar). If you're in the NYC area you should stop by to say bye to me in person.

P.P.S. I still have a living room set available for sale - my buyers backed out on me Tuesday. If you have friends who need good furniture have them to contact me.
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