I am, to put it lightly, a pack rat. I get this from my late mother (though, thank goodness, not nearly on the same scale). So after nine years of collecting and hoarding, I have a boatload of stuff. And this is after several moves worth of whittling down that I've done. In short: you really never realize how much stuff you have until you have to move.
So this weekend's task is sorting and listing things for sale on Craigslist and eBay. I've got to tell you... it's really hard to see some of this stuff go! Sure, I won't miss my penguin-shaped humidifier that much, or my desk (which is already in pieces in the garage), but the artist/designer in me will definitely miss my printer (which can print large sizes) and my uber photo scanner. Alas, they cannot come with me because of the wiring differences in the UK. I may also have to sell a large painting that I created a few years back, and one (if not both) of my mannequins*.
The thing that seems to be daunting on me more than anything else though is the sheer amount of books that I own. The entire top shelf of my wall-length closet is full of them. I've already decided that I'm only taking a small portion of them with me, and the rest (after I make a list of the ones I may want to read again) will be either donated or sold... somehow. I haven't quite figured that out yet. At the very least, I'm going to have a garage sale in a week or two, and they can be sold there.
Proceeds from all these sales will help go toward replacing the hard drive and keyboard in my failing iBook, a couple of trunks to take my things over in, and my plane ticket. I actually found one for just under $500 for a one-way... with an eight hour layover in Reykjavík. It's a rather long time, but for the price I can't pass it up. I've also never been to Iceland (the only country besides my own that I've been to is England, since visiting Tijuana does not truly count as visiting Mexico), so I'm viewing it as a sort of treat, even though I'll be exhausted. But I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here.
The truth is, it's hard to get rid of your belongings. My original plan was to start taking care of all this months ago, little by little. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The idea of the move was just so overwhelming. It still is, but now that I have a real deadline it feels more real and grounded.
Even after I've sold and given away everything else, I've still got what's left of my clothes, a laptop, a bunch of my artwork, as much of my art supplies as I can fit, and all my little bits and bobs (as Michael would put it) to squeeze into two trunks I've yet to purchase and a suitcase. My mind still boggles a bit at that. But it must and will be done.
*Yes. Mannequins. Two. I like them because they're a bit creepy, and I was using them in art pieces in college. The tall one is going to go, and I won't much miss her, but I'm hoping to be able to bring over my kneeling child mannequin. She's a nice conversation piece.
Next Entry: Notes from a Small Island - Book Review
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