Joyful Footprints

I have done this before in 2001.

At that time I was leaving a seven-bedroom house. I still recall vividly everything that had happened at the “estate sale” which was scheduled four days after I arrived back in the States. The day before the big sale, I had hired a team to help setting up rows of tables in the huge living room with all the things I want to sell displayed on the tables. After everyone left that evening, I was all alone inside the huge house I used to call home. Since our bed was already disassembled, I laid down on the huge olive green L shape couch that night and stared at all the stuff that used to mean so much to me. Each collectible item reminded me of the trips we have taken and how I acquired the item and how I spent extravagantly on shipping and handling alone. Gazing at each item that night, I noticed I no longer had the same sentiment and my mind had already let go of the things I used to collect feverishly.

During the estate sale, I remembered a doll dealer from NYC offered me $95 each for my 20 Japanese dolls enclosed in glass frames and bought the whole collection. The antique couches were the first to go and I was pleased to know that there are others who are as crazy as me and willing to pay a good amount for restored antique furniture. All my Asian collectible items and Asian furnishings, which took me years to collect, were the second to go. I still remembered my belongings one after another leaving my eyesight and noticed that I felt a huge relief and not sorrow. That’s when I realized that owning too many things becomes a burden once the pleasure of collecting is gone.

For that day, I hired someone to help me manage the estate sale. She proposed that instead of the fees, in exchange, she would like to have a few things I had; she asked for the large tapestry wall hanging from Burma and the intricately carved wooden fireplace frame which sat underneath the wall hanging, both were in my entry hall. In hindsight, she must have already known how it will all end. I walked away leaving many of my belongings and collectible items for her and her partner to not only clear up but also sell on eBay and made more profit for them.

I didn’t regret leaving the things for her. I understand that someone’s garbage is another’s treasure. She was also a single mother of two, who was suffering from breast cancer and I felt good for giving her the opportunity to help me manage the estate sale.

Twenty-one years after that life-changing experience, I’m now going through a similar experience with selling and donating some of my belongings, this time, to start a new chapter in my life, yet again.

Just like many women, I collected many things throughout my lifetime. I must admit that I’m the worst kind of collector; I liked antiques as well as brand new things, I love designer clothes as well as TJ Max. Now surrounded by mounds of clothes, shoes, and bags, not to mention jewelry, I am feeling embarrassed for my careless and mindless consumption during my younger days.

Now you may be curious to know how can a lifelong collector can ever part with her things. I had an epiphany: I see my daughter having to decide what to do with the paintings, pieces of jewelry, and things I have collected, to which she has no sentimental attachment. I want to relieve her from having to go through the decision-making process of what to keep and what to donate. At the same time, I have been feeling heavy and burdened by all the things I owned and wanted to let go of what is holding me down so that I can move on to create a new life, a much lighter and simpler one that I have been longing for so long. I felt calm, happy, and relieved while emptying out each wardrobe and each shoe closet, going through what to keep, and what to donate; letting go has never been easier.

With many women and families fleeing their war-torn countries, it was also the best time to donate anything one could afford to share. I feel very happy and fulfilled at the same time knowing that all my belongings will have a second home where they will extend their usefulness and give the new owners some happiness in owning a beautiful thing or two.

While I pack my suitcases with a few things I may need to travel around the world, a thought came to my mind. In truth, what I now have in my suitcase is all I really need to live a much simpler life.

Well then, you may ask, after giving away and selling off more than 60% of what I owned, why am I still keeping some things. My answer is simple. I am still human…

Nevertheless, to quote Alex Elle, I am giving myself permission to shed who I used to be. I am allowing myself to start over and find new ways to bloom into my best self. This time, I will not be alone. I have Allegra with me and we are starting over together. Life, here we come ……