Purging, Pricing, packing.....arghhhhhh

It has been quite the month. We have made it through most of our 35+ years of accumulation, and much of what my mother-in-law left, and a bit of what my mother left. My kids are both grown and gone, but their stuff lingers on. I thought I might share a few of the things I have learned - mostly about myself - through this process.

All that stuff that "might be good for something someday"
isn't and probably won't be.
As an artist, I tend to see potential in most things. As an artist who has done both collage and quilts using non-traditional materials, the percentage of potential usage seems to have risen to about 100%. Things of note: A metal heat duct grill that I think I got out of the trash about 30+ years ago. A rusted metal oil space heater that I am sure could have made a fine table. Scraps of every kind of paper imaginable, and drafting supplies that I have sworn I would never use, now that a computer can draw a circle without a ruling pen. Of course there is also the aproximately 50 sheets of dryer lint lifted carefully from the screen, but those DO have potential and will be carted to Virginia. Did I mention the polyester jump suit in gold from about 1980? (My only solace is knowing that there are those of you out there who are saying "why would you get rid of ANY of that")

Black, grey, khaki and white; the spectrum of my life!

What I think I will wear and what I wear are not the same!
To start the great closet purge (we are going from two walk-ins to one shared!), I sorted what I wear regularly from what I wear rarely (or if truth be told, never). The results were startling. On my left (wear) was a collection of solid and subtle prints of black, white and a few khaki items. On my right (rarely wear) was a cacophony of color and prints. hmmm. As I thought about this, I realized that one of the best parts of the garments I made for jill2day was the chance to make colorful and statement garments that I would love to wear, and then see the joy they brought to those who actually wear them. I think I have to work on this "when I get old I shall wear purple" thingy.

The important family heirlooms are not
made of crystal or gold.
The cut glass so carefully protected by prior generations means little to me; The small glass that my grandpa kept his pennies in means a lot, but will probably be meaningless to my children. As I sifted and winnowed through the "good dishes" and the other artifacts of the family, I realized that it is the experience that the object evokes is meaningful to me, not the object.

When I was a kid, we went to a farmer's co-op in my dad's home town of Brantwood, WI. A chunk of brick that I got when visiting the ruins of it with my sister last year, means a lot more to me than the china cups my mother so carefully saved through the years. There are many antiques I appreciate for craftsmanship or history, but the mere fact they were owned by a prior generation does not instill greatness in them for me. The older my children get the more I realize that memories are so relative to the individual, and so are the objects that inspire memories. When the time comes for them to clean out my house, I would expect them to say "why the heck did she save this?" a lot. They will not know that the sand dollar was given to me by a close friend or that the plastic magnet from the "Chapel of Love" at the Mall of America is from a very special day. Or that chunk of brick still connects me to my dad

More lessons learned, but that will do it for now. Off to get the couch cleaned off for the person who is buying it today.