Paring Down (But Forced)

The bad news - on my overnight in Albuquerque, thieves broke into the UHaul trailer, and took half the stuff.  Fortunately, someone noticed the cut lock, and reported it to the hotel manager, who called the police and me.  So, yeah. They only got half the stuff...

It's funny what you think about when things like this happen.  We had a single 4x8 trailer to hold everything we really needed and wanted.  Most of it we had just for convenience (dishes, blankets, clothes), but some of what we kept meant a lot to us, and was irreplaceable.  It was the culmination of a decade of paring down.

Think about what you would keep if you had to fit it into a few footlockers.  Then imagine a random half suddenly gone.  You replace what you need and let go of the few things you used and kept because you might need them again in a month or two.  You mourn those sentimental items that are gone, but you remember the reasons you kept them.  You rejoice over those that you still have. 

And ultimately, you are reminded again that it really is just stuff.