Today’s adventure is about packing your life into boxes. As I am getting ready to embark on becoming a member of the west coast, I have been steadily gathering, wrapping, and stuffing my things into boxes. I sold the little bit of furniture that I possessed, sold a few odds and ends, and threw things into the garbage. I’ve tried to keep in mind my 6 month rule: If I haven’t used it, thought about it, or needed it the last 6 months then I don’t really need it.
The problem that stems from that rule is that it doesn’t allow you to keep many relics from your past. Its also hard to judge what you may or not miss in the future. To be certain, I’ve gotten rid of somethings in the past that I still wish I had. I had a rather lovely screen print on canvas of a bicycle in front of the Eiffel Tower that I set to the curb once because I was rather tired of packing and wanted to be done.
I bought 2 boxes from Fed Ex, 24″ x 24″ 24″. The weight limit for each box 150 lbs. My challenge pack as much of my 30 years into these two boxes, keeping only the most fragile and basic necessities that I will need for a 2 week road trip. I packed, unpacked, and repacked. My legs took a beating from the box flaps that I would frequently run into to. My hands dried out and all my nails broke. In the process, I became a creative master in the art of packing. Battered a bruised but not beaten, I took those 2 boxes back to be weighed and shipped. My life weighs roughly, (drum roll please…) 193 lbs. Not including the clothes and other few items that I’m taking with me on the road.
Its kind of mind blowing how little the cumulative of my life weighs. I feel almost feel like a vagabond, if I ever needed to run away quickly I could do it with few or no strings to pull along with me. It also serves as a reminder of the permanence or lack thereof, of life. Life isn’t forever. We don’t get to keep the things that we’ve worked hard at preserving.
The Daily Adventure(er) 