Living the Dream - 6. Clearing Out

Clearing Out

I love working out how much golf I will be able to play, (a lot), how often I will be able to swim in my own pool, (whenever I want). I muse on how nice it will be to go to the beach with a notebook and plan a novel. These are the fun, exciting things to think about.

I am less keen on the more prosaic. The clearing out, packing up and getting things ready for the move. These are the essential things, that need to be done to make the dream a reality.

It’s only when you actually start thinking packing things up that you realise how much ‘stuff’ there is. It was immediately clear that before packing up, there needed to be a whole lot of clearing out. I stood in the garage the other day, entirely overwhelmed. Quite literally, I could not decide where to start, where to put the ‘to go’ pile and where to put the ‘to stay’ pile.

Actually, we could simply stand back and watch. I have done some international moves in the past – and removal specialists in full-flow are a sight to behold. In what seems like minutes, they speed through a property, wrapping up and packing as they go. Anything not prominently marked ‘LEAVE’ is gone.

There’s plenty of room in the container, but I’m determined that we should take this opportunity to work through our possessions and make deliberate decisions as to the future of those things. Should they be gifted? Taken away? Thrown away?

Consequently, we have a mini-skip outside of our garage, which is getting alarmingly full, surprisingly quickly.

Liberation

There is a catharsis in the process. I start with an inclination to perceive things in terms of their monetary value or their past value. Then my inner-declutterer shouts: “It has sat unloved in the garage for five years! How much do you really need it?” Eventually, I settle into a comfortable middle-ground, rediscovering things that I wish to involve more in my life and being honest about things that need to move on.

Far from being a chore, clearing out has got me more excited, anticipating a new life in the sun.