Taking Stock

My brother and his wife were over this past weekend to celebrate Father’s Day with my parents and me.  After dinner, my mom sent all of us down into the basement to go through what seemed like mountains and mountains of STUFF.  (I can hear Mrs. May, my sixth grade religion teacher, in my head right now…  “Stuff is not a word!”)  This was the moment to go through things in the storage room because we will need to have some major repair work done in the basement soon.

It is sobering to go through years’ and years’ worth of STUFF that has accumulated.  It’s like looking back at a past life.  My brother had “projects” from his years at trade school down there that he looked at wistfully but ultimately resigned to the trash or charity piles.  There’s still quite a bit of stuff down there, and it brings back memories of good times and of bad ones too.

I myself have been doing some cleaning out as well, both of my personal belongings at home and of things at work.  Now that I’m two years in at my job, I know what I use, what I need, and what I can safely give away.  Summer is a good time for me to take stock, since in theory, there are fewer things for me to juggle during the summer months.

If you are finding yourself with extra time on your hands, consider taking stock of your own spaces.  Make piles to throw away, piles to donate, and piles to drop off for the Knights of Columbus garage sale in August.  You never know what you might discover.  And if you can’t use something, there is surely someone out there who can.