Belonging

It’s interesting how objects can become part of us, represent us, like symbols of our identity and we can get so attached to them that sometimes they can even hold more value than they’re worth.

Maybe that’s why we call them our belongings and our possessions.

It has been over a year of continuously shedding my belongings and possessions. It is very interesting to notice which things are easy to part with and which are surprisingly hard to part with. This process certainly helps to identify what are the most needed things in your life. Beyond the vital necessities of course. The most essential to your well-being and happiness.

I think inevitably while actively shedding the physical stuff, you shed some emotional stuff too. Attachments, old ideas, beliefs, behaviors and/or limitations. Parting with and letting go of our stuff (literal and psychological) although can be very freeing, can also feel scary. Like, who are you without those things. How will people know what you like, what your skills are, what you’ve accomplished or all around who you are without them?

I became an antique dealer of sorts as a full time gig about a year ago when I officially closed my shared workspace and had a storage unit full of vintage furniture as a result. Saturday I sold my last vintage vanity and this morning I sold my last barber chair. I have a few things remaining but those were the last two items that really felt emblematic of La Mistingeutte the physical space. The vanities set the space apart from other salons and this chair felt like a symbol of the range of services provided there. Since this chair in particular I had stood or sat behind (and often enjoyed sitting in as well) for 8 years, I expected the sale to feel sad. Like saying goodbye to a trusted, reliable, and generous friend that was an embodiment of who I am, what I like and what I can do. Instead it felt exciting. Like giving someone else the gift of a trusted, reliable and generous friend. And giving myself the freedom to reimagine, redesign and expand what represents La Mistinguette and me.

What it all comes down to is.. Regardless of the cost, the literal or sentimental value of the belongings, the MOST VALUABLE thing, ..is that YOU know what you like, what your skills are, what you have accomplished. Which memories you want to cherish. Who you are, not by what you have to show for it, you are not merely represented by your belongings. It is in the way you show up. The way you perform you skill or talent. The words you use and when you use them. The way you show you care. All of that, you carry with you. Not by your possessions, but in your mind and in your heart.

🎉 to not letting objects define you and to new beginnings, of various kinds, at any age, at any time of year.