Saturday, June 26, 2010

Binge and Purge Part 2

Well, that's not a happy thought, is it? Still, it pretty much describes our life this past decade. When we sold our home, new leather and oak furnishings, and cashed in our RRSP's to start SHRM in Regina, we supported ourselves for two years without a salary. We were so determined to pare down, that we pulled the smallest U-Haul for rent from Winnipeg, to Regina.

Then, we lived in a mission for a few years. What was ours and what was the missions soon began to blend. After that, we began to take a salary and save up for a down payment. Another year or so of frugal living, and we had a home of our own again. It was great! SO MUCH ROOM!! And of course, working at a mission, you have your choice of people`s garage sale leftovers...

One man`s junk is another woman`s treasure!

And the story of the binge begins...

Our book collection exploded to half a dozen six-shelved bookcases in our study. It was wall to wall books, and we really love the look. It reminded me of this cozy coffee shop in Halifax that I intend to frequent. I

Now, if that were all we owned, it would be easy! But of course, we have collected so many possessions and memorabilia over the years, that we needed a GIANT purge! You would be amazed at what can fit in a 710 square foot house!

On the work front, we also had to sort, organize, delegate and purge. We wanted to leave a proper archive of the history of the Mission, as well as make sure we weren't taking things that weren't ours, or vice versa! Although, I must say, this extreme downsizing has pretty much made the latter a moot point!

So, as I said in my last blog post,
There are two things that we have been doing these past two months, both on a personal and professional level: 1) Sorting & purging, and 2) saying good-bye.
Our days have literally been filled with 12 or more hours of sorting, organizing, purging, cleaning, and saying good-bye. We are going to easily be able to fit everything we want to bring in the back of our car. Right now, our stash looks like this:

Imagine your life's possessions in 6 boxes?!

If you could only keep one prized possession, what would you keep?

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