the great 2018 purge

If Jack Kerouac had met Donald Trump, a conversation like this might have happened (credit Richard Humphreys).  Trump brags to Kerouac about all of his amazing possessions, but Kerouac tells Trump he has something Trump never will.  Trump asks, "Well what is it?"  Jack replies coolly, "I have enough."

I struggle with accumulating things.  Clothes, furniture, outdoor gear, and on and on.  I'm not paying for most of it, mind you, but as my parents' only child living in the US, I get a lot of free stuff.  Not to mention my very generous in-laws.  At the end of the day, it's just stuff, but it's my stuff with my emotions and memories being dragged along and I have a hard time saying no.  I do admit, however, that I am not yet sentimentally attached to the head of the parking meter my father-in-law gave me this Christmas (not even kidding - he really gave me a parking meter).  I really did legitimately forget it at your house, Jim.

​The 100 thing challenge is a fascinating proposal - pare down your personal belongings to 100 things.  It's pretty self explanatory, but the idea is for us to focus on the important things in life: relationships.  Popularized by Dave Bruno's 2010 book, the idea has attracted scores of followers (that produce lists of their 100 items) including Unitarian Reverend Jeff Jones who takes the challenge.  I found his guest sermon on the topic (from September 5th, 2017 in Asheville) to be very thought provoking.  A little less thought-provoking is Bravo TV's take on the topic called Stripped, which is yet another reality TV perversion of a good idea complete with, you guessed it, nudity.

Christmas is a particularly challenging time for me with regard to accumulating stuff and the addition of the baby didn't help.  We took a trip to my in-laws in the Prius and returned to Asheville with two cars full of stuff.  This can't continue.  I will not take time for the full 100 thing challenge right now (this dissertation ain't writing itself!), but I'd like to do something.  I'd like to make some sort of purge, so here goes.

I will rid myself of one item per day for the first 100 days of 2018.  I will post weekly updates as a comment on this post. I will attempt to group objects and not use 43 books as the objects for the first 43 days.  We will see how this goes, but I am somewhat excited and nervous.  If there's anyone else out there who wants to participate (HINT HINT MOM HINT), I'd be delighted to hear your comments and about your participation.  Love you!!!    =)