Why do we get stuff?

I've had quite the productive day. I raided the deepest corners of my living spaces and have come up with boxes and bags of stuff to send elsewhere. I took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill. I sold a bunch of books to a struggling mom & pop used bookstore. And I donated additional books to a wonderful arts library nearby. As I did so, I wondered to myself why I gather all this stuff. Each individual item comes to me for one of a variety of reasons. There are so many reasons one attains stuff, whether it be an impulse buy or well thought out and pre-planned purchase. I'm also certain that certain acquisitions find us because – simply – they make us happy. And I also often wonder to myself, "Why in the heck did I spend money on this?"

I'm hanging onto a bunch of stuff because it still serves a purpose (which might include simply making me happy), but part of the liberation of these recent days has been the process of deciding that certain things might serve others better. Pretty spiffy. More work has to be done, but I'm happy about where I'm at.

I also had the wonderful experience of having some friends gather for a sort of going away poker party this evening. My buddy Kevin Traxler cooked and baked his brains out and we ate like kings and queens. Wacky card-slinging shenanigans were followed by the viewing of silly videos. I'm so grateful. I'm having the best time in these going-away gatherings, and I also find myself sitting back and watching my friends laugh and chat, and it makes me so happy that this happiness goes on and on... and it will be here when I come back for visits. So much to be thankful for.

Well, that's it for now. Take care, loved ones! Peace and love.

Where did all this come from?

I continue in my quest to purge the extraneous from my collections of stuff. It's amazing how daunting the task is. All my stuff seems to multiply, so as I tackle one box it seems like there's suddenly three to find homes for. But I'm getting a handle on it... so far.

My tool box had three old remote controls from TVs or VCRs I'd trashed years ago. I was hanging onto two old computers because I just didn't know how to erase the hard drives. I had tax files from 13 years ago and cell phone bills from eight years ago. I had a stack of 20 programs from the opening night of the Snow White show at Disneyland. One will do nicely. Piles and piles of stuff that serves me no purpose now, nor will in the future. I'm trashing things and, while some parts of the purge are a little melancholy, overall it's incredibly liberating.

Note: The decrepit disco ball in the photo above isn't actually mine. It was sitting in the parking lot of Debbie Reynold's rehearsal studios today as it hailed and poured. I was at the studios to audition for The Lion King and it went pretty decently. We'll see if I'm warthog material.

Okay... back to purging before I have to scoot along to Pasadena to see the Playhouse's production of Camelot. I'm really looking forward to seeing David Lee's pared-down and refocused take on a beautiful story. So here I go. Take care, all! Peace and love.