STUFF and more STUFF! 3/4/2018

Stuff is being sold (gradually) by EBTH (Everything But the House). It's interesting to see what sells and for how much. With their take of 40% the "winnings" may not meet my expectations. I rationalize and justify the outcome by repeating phrases such as:

1. I'm glad it is out of here.
2. I won't have to dust it again.
3. I have regained some space in my home.
4. I have made someone else happy. (Hoping)
5. It's found a new home and a new adventure.
6. It wasn't ever used or hardly ever used.
7. I don't want to care for it any longer - polishing, dusting, etc.
8. I don't want to have the memory of it any longer.
9. It was never mine in the first place.
10. Better "something" than "nothing" even if it's a few dollars!

I am looking forward to receiving my first check. It will go for the legal fees I'm racking up. (More drama).

Limoges Cow Pitcher

Learning about "attachment to stuff" and "searching for meaning in minimalism" (Zen Zone) has been a major pursuit for me as I reach into and beyond the 4th quarter of existence on this planet. There are others, too, who are on this same journey - some by choice, some by circumstance.

It's the STORY, the MEMORY of the "object", the "thing". What do we know about auctions - VALUE - what makes something have value - it's the STORY - the PROVENANCE! Watching tv programs such as "Antique Roadshow" and "Strange Inheritance" certainly helps a "stuff" person learn if something's worth anything.

With all this "blather" about stuff, I'm still inclined to share the stories of the recent items I've hauled in boxes and on blankets in the back seat and trunk of my car to EBTH. What does it matter that I went to the Indian Hill Antique Auction and bought the beautiful hand-hooked floral rug for $1500.00 and it sold for about $100? What does it matter that those African ladles went for less that $100 bucks? I will go back and reread my list of why I'm auctioning off stuff. The rug was bought on impulse - it was beautiful. I used it awhile and then had it cleaned and wrapped up in brown paper and stuffed under the guest bed. The ladles I enjoyed for many years in my wood paneled "African themed" bathroom. They're gone now, no longer here for viewing I(or dusting). I bought those ladles from Smith, Ltd. on 6th Street downtown Cincinnati. Jerry Smith left town, but some of his stuff is still here in my home.