Follow me on a little thought experiment! Imagine the following scenario: your house is on fire and is likely to burn to the ground. And let's, of course, assume that all people and pets are unharmed and out of the house! Now, imagine you could safely go back into the house and take a few personal possessions with you. What would those be?
For some reason, I have often asked myself this question and how I would answer it. I have wondered what the things in my life are that have importance to me and that can’t be replaced (not counting people!). Recently I asked Matt this question in a conversation. The conversation was prompted by the fact that the house of one of his co-workers burnt completely just a few weeks ago. The whole family, kids, parents, and pets got out fine without any injuries, but the house was lost. Matt told me that the adults managed to go inside again, but instead of saving anything they returned only to make the house ‘safe’ for the firefighters. They removed ammunition from an ammunition-safe and moved ATVs with fuel tanks away from the house so that the responders would not be met with exploding ammunition or burning fuel tanks. They did not manage to save much in the way of personal possessions except the clothes they wore.
House fires are not an unusual occurrence around these parts. They can be electrical fires or fires from poorly secured fireplaces. And usually, given that houses are built mostly from wood, they will incur significant damage in a fire. A couple of years ago, I was driving through the next town over and saw billowing black smoke rising in the distance. I realized that this was not a benign shrub fire, but that something big was burning. As I drove by I saw a log home ablaze and the firefighters had not even arrived yet. There too, everyone got out, thankfully, but after the fire was settled and put out all that was left of the house was the stone chimney, everything else was gone.
So, asides from people and pets, what would I save, what would Matt save, what would you save? So many things in our house are replaceable, except a few personal diaries and photographs. We don’t have priced and one-of-a-kind artwork, or an expensive collection of stamps, really nothing of monetary value except a few pieces of jewelry. Years ago, I would have answered the question with: My glasses - without which I would be completely lost - and my blue monster - a completely tattered comfort toy that could get me through anything including the loss of my stuff. Today, I’d still say my glasses, since I would still be lost without them, but the blue monster is no longer in our house. So, I think, I would probably grab a few pieces of jewelry, which have real and/or sentimental value.
Matt thought about the question very briefly and said ‘nothing’, which is not surprising because he really owns nothing of value except his tools, which are at work and not in the house. Would he try to save his childhood stuffy, Samons, the gorilla? I asked him. ‘No,’ he said ‘I’d be just fine without him.’
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I have a complicated relationship with ‘stuff’. In general, I don’t like it, it bothers me, because I constantly have to organize it and it takes up space in my brain. Sometimes, Matt will ask me where something is and even though I have not seen the requested 'thing' in many months, I know what box in the garage it is likely to be in, and I’ll know the rough coordinates of the box with said item in it. All this info is safely stored in the grey matter of my brain. I often wonder if I couldn’t do something better with my brain than storing coordinates for the locations of our ‘stuff’. Some birds apparently have an amazing capacity to remember hundreds of food caches in the autumn and winter, and to do so their brains actually expand and grow seasonally. So I suppose, it is maybe good exercise for the brain to remember 'stuff' and I am utilizing and exercising the 'bird part' of my brain very well. But I like the simplicity of less stuff to maintain, less stuff to keep track of, less stuff to organize. I like the idea of less stuff.
On the other hand, the organizing and especially the reducing of stuff has given me great satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment over the last 10 years (see my 'two suitcases project'). But, to be honest, I am done with it, I am done with all the stuff!
So, yes, I think my answer would be, I’d grab my glasses, put a jewelry box under my arm and leave the rest behind. And I must admit that a certain level of relief would accompany the loss of all that stuff, I think my brain would feel a little less ‘stuffy’ and more unburdened. Nonetheless, I hope that I never have to experience this scenario and I hope you don’t either! But if given the chance, what would you save?
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PS.: During the writing of this little piece I realized that the exercise of answering this hypothetical question had inadvertently and very simply solved my entire ‘two suitcases’ issue … I don’t even need two suitcases, I just need a case for my glasses and a jewelry box and I am all set. It’s that simple!