Right now I'm sitting outside a Starbucks like I often do. The reason I come here is because 1) I work at this particular store so I don't usually pay for drinks, and 2) it is within walking distance of home. I was at home cleaning out my room and the garage, looking for things to sell or donate. The idea of minimizing what I own is very appealing; it's always been somewhat a romantic fascination of mine but something I've never done well with. But...
Yesterday I sold one of my guitars. Now I only have five guitars. Upon exchanging the guitar for money with the guy I didn't feel anything like I've felt in the past when parting with possession I value. This time I just felt a slight exhilaration knowing my physical presence here is that much smaller; I owned that much less shit. One more thing I never have to think about. I hope to repeat this feeling multiple times and to promote that I have put all but one of my guitars online, as well as a bunch of camera equipment.
For my upcoming move I had originally planned on taking a 50-liter backpack. Andrew and I went out with some friends and walked around River Legacy, in Arlington, for a few hours with our bags loaded up with all the things we intend to take with on the move to Southeast Asia. sidenote: The last time I moved across the world I took about four times as much stuff. A slight difference is the fact that I had a job (and a place to stay) upon arrival. This time I have neither, so traveling lighter is mandatory. Compared to last year I felt 50 liters was a success but I still felt like my bag was oversized. So...after sitting on the floor of Backwoods, a local outdoors store, with Shawna, Lauren, Andrew and three backpacks strewn about me, I ended up buying a 33-liter backpack with better internal organization. This blog post has totally strayed from my original intent.
In case anyone's interested, I will write another post later that analyzes how miserable a person can be while lounging around sipping overpriced drinks, contemplating the extreme comfort of their life why that comfort is so discouraging. I hope you all will let me know if you have any thoughts of your own on this matter!
p.s. I'll update the post with pics of my new bag later--it's so cute!!
Brian2! You still around? I'm just waking up after a long, dark creative hibernation and I remembered how important your photos and writing were to me back in the day... but the trail seems to have gone cold. Get in touch, if you can =)
ReplyDeleteBTW it wasn't entirely obvious but I am monos from DevArt.
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