mulberryshoots

As time goes by, I find myself needing less and less. Just the dishes that I love. Fewer cooking pots, a small, black Le Creuset saucepan with a wooden handle to boil my breakfast egg. Sea salt and coarsely ground pepper from a mill.

I read once that a woman who was turning one hundred years old had reduced her worldly goods down to four boxes. That seemed very responsible and very Zen to me. I am thinking about how I might pare down what I have. To stop buying more. Not because I am afraid of growing older. Simply because it makes things more simple. Less to manage. Making living lighter. And holding on just to what I treasure.

My process is unlike re-organizing or de-cluttering. That somehow feels like there’s a mess and it needs cleaning up. Rather, I pick up and keep only what I truly want to hold on to. My favorite teapot. Yorkshire and Lapsang Souchang tea. Clothes that fit into a soft carryall, enough to take a trip for a week or to wear everyday forever.

Even though I have a small box of earrings, I usually wear one pair all the time, sometimes alternating with one or two others. But that’s about all.

The summer lies ahead. A great time to think about how everything else could be used by someone who might enjoy it. There might be boxes too numerous to count but manageable to disperse by the Fall.

Holding onto a few things feels good. Better get started soon.