Stories of Things

I sat in my living room today and tried to find something that would inspire a piece of writing.  I noticed the pumpkin.  While I haven't written the piece that I came up with in my head at that time, I came up with some good material.  This evening I tried the exercise in another room.  I noticed a clock.

Clocks are more commonplace than pumpkins but even a simple clock has a story attached to it.  This clock was a wedding present from a family friend.  It's worked for almost 20 years; the marriage has too.  That's pretty much the story of the clock.  There's lots more I could say about my marriage but that could be another entry, maybe even two.

In thinking briefly about the clock, I thought of how every thing in our homes has a story attached to it.  The story may be interesting, sad, complicated, funny, or associated with travel, a certain person, or a certain time in our lives.  There are so many tales these items tell!

In living with these items and knowing all their stories, whether we acknowledge them consciously or not, I wonder if we stay too close to some stories that would be better off dropped in the past.  The items can be nice; sometimes the stories attached with them or not.  I have some brown wicker serving pieces in the dining room.  I remember where and when I bought them.  It wasn't a healthy, happy time in my life.  Perhaps it would be good to remove the energy or whatever is associated with those pieces.  It doesn't help.  And I could function quite well without them anyways.  I like to wash dishes well and wicker is not great for that.

In trying to minimize the amount of unnecessary "stuff" in my home and life, I want to listen to the story that each item has to tell.  I might cut some off rather quickly, knowing that an item is so special it stays or so weighed down with negative connotations, it's on its way out.  I will give them all a chance to state their case though.  They have their reasons for being here.

In living with way too much stuff, as some people do, I wonder what it's like with that many stories being told all at once.  I imagine the stories would beg individually and as one for attention.  There would be a lot of noise.  It must really weigh people down.

Tossing things out from the past won't make everything right.  If only.  Some people have been through very difficult life experiences.  Hanging onto things is a way they cope.  They do their best; coping at all is admirable.  But, tossing some things out can free us from associations we don't need.  And free us to live more fully now.  With our pumpkins.  In January.

JAHD