For everything there is a season.
a time to throw away stones
and a time to gather stones together.
—Ecclesiastes 3.5
* * *
Last Sunday’s post got more than the usual comments. All favorable.
Okay, all but one.
A guy named Randall thought I was soulless. And said so.
And to think we were friends in high school. I (affectionately) called him “Randy, the second” since I was the first. He yielded (with a smirk on his face).
We haven’t seen each other since graduating in 1965. He found me through my blog site. We email sporadically. I’d forgotten he was a contrarian.
And still is—as you will see.
(Minds change. Personalities don’t.)
His comment hit me like cold water, especially since it came at the end of such positive comments as these:
I am in the same situation. My daughter has said, “Please do not leave all this stuff for me!”—Melanie
Decluttering is a great motivator for good health, according to the latest scientific research. It also says that less is somehow more.—Larry
Right there with you. As a close relative said, “Tell me what you need, and I’ll tell you how to get along without it.”—Becky
One reader attached a link to George Carlin’s comic rant on “stuff.” (Click here to see it.)
Here’s Randy’s comment:
I live in a home filled with art and artifacts. Virtually everything has a story. A piece of furniture that my grandfather purchased when he was first on his own. The first new piece of furniture my parents acquired (a maple dresser) as a newly married couple in the midst of the Depression. Quilts from my wife’s families going back generations and those she has made. Objects acquired over the years for their beauty or for their sheer whimsy. Beautiful prints and paintings—supporting the work of artists we have met along the way. Pieces of pottery, some art and some just old storage containers. Crystal found in second hand shops. Rugs handcrafted and fair traded that provide me a Zen moment when I follow their amazing patterns with the vacuum cleaner. Declutter? You have no soul! Signed, Randall, the lesser.
Funny. I don’t remember him being humble. Sassy, yes. Humble, no. Still, I replied and dubbed him “Randall, the wiser.”
(He’s not. But let’s let him think so.)
And, oh yes, do not discard your heirlooms.
Or your soul.
_______________________
See Paula’s photo on the home page. Posted June 2, 2024.
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