Comments on: A Baby Boomer’s Magical Relationship with Stuff

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:24:18 +0000

Of course, I seem to have done everything backwards from much of my generation. Sold everything I owned and “retired” in my 20s to sail a boat around the South Pacific; went to college & law school in my 30s; got married & began my career in my 40s; became a first time parent in my 50s; and recently moved from our small home to a much bigger one (more than twice as big with a huge yard for my kids) where I am now happily buying & accumulating lots MORE STUFF. So, I downsized in my 20s & am in the process of accumulation now. Hmmmm, just part of a highly diverse generation I guess.

Looking forward to reading your book. Please check out my new novel at http://www.CalWriter.net

By: Judythe Morgan

Judythe Morgan — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:16:30 +0000

We are so there. Last fall we reached our tipping point and made the decision to move from our 3,600 sq.ft.city home on the TX gulf coast and to our 1,200 sq. ft. retreat in the Rio Grande National Forest. We tossed, gave away, and sold tons of “stuff.” Freeing, indeed and we figured we’ve added ten years to our life span!!
Great post. Now off to add Stitches to my TBR pile.

By: Normandie Fischer

Normandie Fischer — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:15:29 +0000

When my husband and I moved on board our boat for several years of cruising, we left almost everything from our CA house for the buyers–or we sold it. That was glorious. The problem we now have is that we’re back home taking care of my mama and almost crowded out by “stuff” from four other lives: my East Coast life, my mama’s life, my auntie’s life, and a couple of things from their brother’s life. So, two boomers and an 85 year old with house stuff, boat stuff, and stuff-stuff!

At least I have my corner for writing and a view of the water, so I can ignore a lot of it. (Though I really should get that dust rag out.)

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:44:51 +0000

Ah, for the time and wisdom to separate the “stuff” from the magic.

By: Courtney Pierce

Courtney Pierce — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:22:53 +0000

Thank you all for the wonderful comments. I knew I’d strike a nerve because if I was feeling it enough to write about the “stuff conversation”, then others would be too. But, then again, some of those things really are magical – they’re part of who we are. We all may have hundreds of books, but I bet there are a few precious ones that will stay on the shelf because we have to finger the spine every now and again.

By: David

David — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:37:08 +0000

Courtney,

This excerpt from your book has got me to thinking about all the many LP albums and music CDs I have in storage … storage that’s costing me a monthly fee. I no longer have a turntable to play LP albums on. And, I collected about 4,000 CDs while consulting for a major record label about 20 years ago. But I no longer play CDs. My music is on iTunes.
And, that’s just scratching the surface on all my “stuff.”
Thanks for a terrific piece.

David

By: Marsha Roberts

Marsha Roberts — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:25:44 +0000

I love the concept of this article – well done Courtney! We all have attachment to different “stuff!” I think the “stuff” we are most attached to says a great deal about who we REALLY are. I’ve moved several times in the last few years and had to go through ALL of my “stuff” and decide what to keep. The things that made the cut are very precious to me because they represent a special memory or person. Again, nice job Courtney, we can all relate to this!

By: Lynn Schneider

Lynn Schneider — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:13:36 +0000

This sounds so interesting. And so true. I have so many “things”, my Mom’s teacup collection, my mother-in-law’s Swarovski collection. What to do with all of it? I good real life situation. I can’t bear to part with these momentos, yet they are cluttering up my life. Going to download your book, it sounds great.

By: Frank Cmelak

Frank Cmelak — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:56:54 +0000

Man oh man, can I ever relate to this story! It seems that this is a universal constant in our society, especially with us Boomers. It’s no wonder that they actually made a reality TV show on this topic (“Hoarders”).

Evidence of this pervasive behaviour is obvious with all of the storage facilites in most major cities. It’s a very successful industry and it seems that they can’t build enough of them. Ironically, people park their $40K cars in the driveway year-round because their garages are full of worthless (priceless?) “stuff”!

When I divorced my first wife, I left her the house that was full of “stuff” that had built up over 15 years or more; some of it was still in the original moving boxes. I couldn’t believe how quickly and how much it had accumulated.

My new wife and I both started new lives together and had nothing except our clothes. We literally started from scratch but it didn’t take long to start collecting “stuff”, eventhough we weren’t into knick-knacks, collectibles, or hobbies.

That was 15 years ago and since then we’ve moved a total of 8 times, buying, renovating, and selling properties. That eventually was the cure for our hoarding illness. After moving the same boxes over and over again, and paying for extra storage we finally realized that if we hadn’t used anything in 2 years, we’ve already learned to do without it. So, every time we moved after that, we just got leaner and leaner. Our family started looking forward to our next move, because they would benefit from our down-sizing. What they couldn’t use went to charity or the garbage.

We now live in a small 2 bedroom condo with no locker or outside storage. We feel totally uncluttered and can pick up and move in a U-Haul van within 12 hours. We now realize that we didn’t own all that “stuff”; it owned us!

By: Su Lynch

Su Lynch — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:44:16 +0000

Oh, we are so where your characters are Courtney! Our ‘problem’ is books, oh and tobacco tins (I kid you not!), a collection of Private Eye magazines, and yes, the plates from my mother. I love the idea of two suitcases each, one for clothes and a heavy one for books, but it will never happen…