Preparing to Unpack

It's been two weeks since the movers came to our home and took all our things away.  We've been living with the same five or six outfits and the same small bag of toys.  We've been living in the same two rooms for the last ten days.

Other than buying bathing suits and some books, we haven't needed to purchase much.  I found myself wondering today about that big truck full of stuff that left our house almost two weeks ago and about how much of that stuff we need or even want back.  As we prepared to move, I found myself constantly cleaning things up and giving things away.  I asked myself repeatedly, do we really need this?  I asked the same thing of my children.  We passed many toys and clothes along before we started moving.  I think we've all realized that our idea of need has been adjusted once again. 

While we've had the distraction of the pool and more than the usual amount of television, the majority of our entertainment has been provided by a few books and each other.  It's made me wonder about the shelves full of toys, games and things now in boxes.  All of the odds and ends that sit on tables and shelves.  The drawers full of clothes.  Closets full of towels and sheets.  I tend toward simplicity and this time of enforced minimalism has helped me see that I haven't even scratched the surface of what I can live without. 

I think my challenge will be balancing my desire to pare down with my family's desire to hold on.  I don't want our new home to become a battle between want and need.  Nor do I want us to be buried in things we don't need because we hold on too tight.  Maybe this time apart from our stuff is just what we needed to loosen our grip on possessions.  Maybe we'll be able to unpack more wisely as a result of the slower pace we've been forced to accept.

I'm hopeful that we'll be reaching a resolution to our situation this week.  I'm even brave enough to hope that by the end of the week we'll be receiving a truck that's full of our stuff at our new home.  I think that as we bring all those boxes into our new place we'll be looking at things with new eyes and a new perspective of what we think is important and worth finding a place for in our new life.