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| Mid shake down |
Wie geht's?
Well, it's started. The pack up/ storing phase has begun.
Hiring a space to lock-up our precious possessions was stage one, then with the help of a colleague (thanks Jeff), the transporting of records, books, bedroom furniture, fridge and John Lennon figurines began.
Scary watching your worldly possessions slowly taking up a 3 x 2 metre space and realising I should have been more ruthless with the CDs!
More than a jigsaw, my brain has gone into full on Tetris mode - slotting pieces into lock-up places.
We've rented a space at a National Mini Storage facility in Albany. It's huge! Filled with...who knows what!!
Stuff! Most probably stuff they don't need, or in all likeliheed, want.
People are strange.
We've aimed to avoid the traps we fell into last time - thinking things may come in handy later. So we've gone for a minimal approach.
And, it feels good.
Less is more.
But I can't help wondering about some of those CDs.
Love and peace - Wozza
Minimalism. Less is more. Spring cleaning in the northern hemisphere (and if you're reading the Guardian's special features).
I've been engaged in my own simplify, simplify regime of late, even though it's autumn.
In a former life, I may have been a cicada, or a snake, or some other animal that sheds it's skin.
I'm a fan of decluttering.
Currently I'm working through my CDs and placing them into one of three categories:
- The loved ones I am apt to return to often. I can't begin to count how many times I've played Big Country's Live Without A Net.
- These are not to be confused with classics that are sacrosanct, they appear in the second category - I may not play them often but I need them around just in case. Led Zeppelin. I loved the vinyl and bought the CD reissues but over-familiarity is a bastard.
- That leaves category three - the ones I don't play often, nor need around particularly. The CD I read a review of and bought but was disappointed by, the one I bought out of loyalty to the band that was a dog but I hung onto it anyway because you never know, I may return to it in ten year's time and find a buried treasure (hello David Gray).
I decided to play every CD. I figured if I had to fast forward a lot or couldn't be arsed (I've noticed a few ECM esoteric European jazz CDs being added to pile 3) then I didn't need them cluttering up the shelves.
Decluttering appears to be in vogue. It seems every second best seller is expounding on the joy of tidying.
Japanese author and 'organising consultant' Marie Kondo is one such example. She advocates keeping only things that 'spark joy'. As she says, "human beings can only truly cherish a limited number of things at one time".
Which justifies my putting Motorhead's No Sleep Till Hammersmith into category three baby!
Love and peace - Wozza
