Giving it away

[beetiger]

A lot of it's about the clutter, I suppose. Too many things, no room to breathe, piles upon piles, closets stuffed full. And some of it's about memorabilia, things that I could never give away because of the stories behind them, things that don't serve me daily but are part of the fabric of my personal history. It's hard to let those be stories without anchors, especially for someone with as poor a memory as I. But more of it is about hoarding, saving things just in case, backups and extras and stuff for some future need that isn't real yet, may never be.

The minister at our local UU gave a sermon last week, and even though in part it was just about pledge campaigns, he said something that really struck me. Generosity as a spiritual practice is about believing in abundance, about knowing that the universe somehow will provide us with the things we need when we need them.

All of a sudden, these things in my closets that I'm giving away, knife sets I have in case my other knives (which are built to last a lifetime) break, baby things I might conceivably use if I had another baby, souvenir samovars, I can see how they aren't serving anyone and they could be serving someone right now. And it makes me happy to imagine them in active use again, even by strangers.

To this end: If you need something, and you think I might have one I'm not using, please let me know. This especially applies to people who come to my home sometimes, since you can both see what I have and take it away without incurring any expense on either of our parts, but really this offer extends to anyone. Perhaps in this moment I can be an agent of the universe for you.

Blessed be.

Comments

[ex-whitepho.livejournal.com]

I've found that giving away everything excess I have over the years has been enormously liberating - and even now, with things stored away in boxes, I'm living on a bare minimum of goods and quite happy to do so. I hope your experience is equally joyous!

...having said that, souvenir samovars?? Do they function to make tea or are they just decorative?

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

Functional, though it's European current (I have a converter) and hasn't been actually used in a decade. I put it on freecycle this morning, we'll see if anyone would like it.

[ex-whitepho.livejournal.com]

I've wanted a samovar for fifty thousand years; I wish I lived closer to you! I hope someone on Freecycle will love it. =)

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

If for some reason no one on freecycle bites, I'll send it to you for cost of shipping. If I had only known, I could have traded it for the jewelry! ;)

[ex-whitepho.livejournal.com]

Awwww, I would love that! I hope for your sake that it goes on Freecycle, though, because I imagine the thing would be a horrendous pain to ship. :P