I honestly don’t know what I would do. I am not and never will be a minimalist. I love my stuff, the things in my home have meaning for me either because of who gave them to me or the part of my life they represent. I would be devastated to lose everything.
The last summer that I lived in the Huon Valley there was a bushfire that came very close to my town. My house was not in the direct path of the fire but there was a risk from flying embers. There was no way that I would have been able to defend my house had it caught alight so I made the decision to evacuate taking only my two most important possessions, Cindy and Polly, my laptop and my camera plus a few clothes and other essentials.
I had to walk away from my entire doll collection and I feared that I would never see them again. Some of my dolls have been with me since I was a small child and those are the ones that I would have missed the most. Naomi said to me that if the worst happened, we would replace what was lost but I could never replace my childhood dolls. I could find similar ones perhaps but it would not be the same. Those are the kind of things that I would miss the most, my childhood dolls, and my photos because I can’t ever take some of those again.
Things like clothes or household appliances I don’t care so much about or furniture although some of my furniture came from David’s parents and grandparents and I would have been sorry to lose that and some ornaments that have been in the family for a long time.
So, what would I have done if I’d lost the lot? I would have grieved but then I would have picked myself up and gone on because what else can you do? I’m not sure I’d have had the heart to start all those collections again but maybe I would have. I am glad that I didn’t have to find out.
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