The things we shipped arrived last week! And we’re so happy about that. The past couple of days we’ve been going through the boxes, unpacking a few things here and there and just feeling a lot more at home than before. Oh, and making a huge mess of our tiny studio apartment. But it’s really good to have it all here.
When we had to empty out the Dutch house in March (we had seven days to do that!) we ended up throwing a lot of stuff away, because it just didn’t fit into the trailer we decided to pack everything in. We could have bought a sea container and have more than enough space, of course, but that’s just the thing. More than enough space. We just didn’t own enough to fill it up with.
Some of your belongings weren’t logical to take with us either. Leather couch and chair? So uncomfortable in this heat. Ikea Kallax bookcases? Will be destroyed by the humid air in just a few years. Our mattresses? We were thinking about buying new ones anyway. You get the drift. It would have cost us thousands of euro’s to ship stuff that we would throw away soon anyway.
So we just went through everything we owned and ended up with shipping our bed (sans mattresses), our dining room table, 16 boxes, my sewing machines, two computer screens, and T.’s telescopes. The rest of it had to go.
The last two days were hard. We had to make tough decisions and I had to keep telling myself ‘It’s just stuff!’.
And that’s true. There are so many things that are way more important to me. Happiness and health. Family. Love. Friendship.
I already packed our photos and my favorite books. T. already packed his record player and his music. Those were the most important to us. And then we were exhausted and stressed out because of the time pressure and we just threw some things in boxes and other things in the trash.
Last week I realized that I didn’t remember what was in those boxes. I thought we’d packed my favorite pans, but I wasn’t sure. And I vaguely remembered putting some very personal items (my childhood teddy bears for instance) in a box, but I also remembered dumping my wedding dress at the thrift store. So I wasn’t sure what made the cut in the end.
It’s just stuff. I know. But I was so happy to dig out those teddy bears. The little basket I bought in South Africa. My tortoise pincushion. A quilt a very dear friend made for me. The little rug we bought in Turkey. My grandmothers’ old tins. My wedding veil, gloves, and purse. The little box holding jewelry the kids made me when they were little. My collection of stones and shells that I picked up all over the world. The little jar with sand from Australia. Things like that. Most of it is back into the boxes because I don’t know where to put it, but now I know it’s there.
It’s just stuff. I’d happily hand everything over if I could buy health and happiness for my family with it. And if we ever move to another country again, I may not take all these items with me. But for now, I’m just so happy with those little keepsakes.