Unpacking Pieces of the Past — Bittersweet Moments

As I have occasionally alluded to in the past, I have a large walk-in closet in my home office. When we moved into this house, part of that closet became "home" to a number of moving boxes I previously had in a rented self-storage unit.

Several of these boxes were packed a long time ago — at a time when I was moving rather frequently — and contained old "family stuff" that I figured I would deal with once my life felt a little more settled.

"One thing leads to another" and all that good stuff and now we have lived in this house for over ten years. Which means it is pretty obvious that we are done with "all that moving around."

So, I took it upon myself to open a box and go through it, earlier today.

This particular box turned out not to be "family stuff" at all... instead it was filled with "bits and pieces" that were packed at the very last moments before I closed a gift shop I owned in Austin, Texas, in 1999.

A few things in there will end up being gifts for people during the holidays... the rest of it I will be spending time putting for sale on eBay over the next couple of weeks. In a sense, it was a little unexpected "windfall."

In some ways, it was bittersweet... I recognized old things, and realized that I poured almost 13 years of my life into that business, only to have it eventually die a very quiet and unceremonious death when the landlord would no longer renew the lease and it would have been too costly to move to a different location.

In the greater scheme of things, getting the box unpacked and out of the closet was not some huge achievement.

And yet? I feel somewhat accomplished, perhaps because I am rather a "master procrastinator." And since this went rather easily, I now feel a little bit less hesitant to tackle the next box in there. I think I have about 40 boxes in all, to be dealt with.

You might wonder how a person would end up with so much "packed away stuff." A business closure, a divorce, repeated move, death of both parents and in-laws and a few other things... all at a time when when I was working 70-odd hours a week... things pile up. It becomes easier to just "deal with it later."

Thanks for reading, and have a great week ahead!

How about YOU? Do you have any "mystery boxes" in your life that you plan to deal with "later?" Or do you know where everything in your life is located? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 20211024 23:26 PDT
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