I Have An Announcement.

It's a rainy Saturday morning.  The dogs are laying on top of the new-ish furniture.  Again.  The laundry is piling up in my bathroom.  Again.  Our bedrooms are a disaster of Lego remnants, knick-knacks that always need dusting and clothes.  I hate the clothes.   They sit too long on the dresser until I rummage around them to find something and eventually I can't tell if it's been worn or is still clean. 

So I walked down to the kitchen with an announcement. 
"I have an announcement.  I am officially going through a phase".
My husband looks at me and sits silently, blinking, expressionless, as he picked up his coffee cup.  I know he's bracing himself.  I've gone through phases before.  I smile.
"I don't hear any groans", I say. 
He replies, "Oh, I'm thinking it.  ... I'm waiting." 

Anne pipes in.  "Are you going to starting dressing like a teenager?"
Ha.  Baby, I've been through that phase about a decade ago.  I'm over that.  Like a bad hairstyle in the eighties...  it was not good. 

"I have decided that I am purging.  I'm downsizing.  I'm getting rid of everything I don't truly need."
And instantly I see the glimmer, just a passing shadow, of panic (or was it relief) on my husband's face.  He knows that my purging phase will soon be in direct conflict with his hoarder phase.  Wait.  No.  He's a hoarder.  No phase involved. 

It all started from this silly Facebook posting.  15 Reasons Couples Should Vacation Instead of Buy Stuff.  But it has me thinking.  I want memories with my children, and activities and adventures.  I care about stuff, but I don't want to.  And I am in control of my choices.  I can decide what's important.  Because it's true.  Where you spend your money is an illustration of your priorities.

So... garage sale, yard sale, donations.  It's going.  Don't look for me at Target.  Don't look for me at a high class boutique.  Look for me at a waterfall, on a trail, in the ocean, watching a sunset or on an airplane.  It's time to stop trudging through the stuff that prevents us from making memories and time to start slow dancing on a sandy beach somewhere. 

I hope its not really a phase.  I hope its a lifestyle change. Wish me luck.

  
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not exist in the abundance of his possessions.” ~ Luke 12:15