Too much

by Jon Sullivan - 2024-03-31 - Travels

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When I moved to Eugene I assumed I'd be having guests and dinner parties and all manner of things I'd need a guest room and extra furniture for. Pffft.

Clearly I was confused. A couple years before the move the plan was to get rid of everything, live a slimmed down life in a tiny place where I'd be spending most of my time out on adventures, and not so much just vegetating at home. I'd have a bed, a work desk, a kitchen, and that's about it. Certainly not things I'd never used in years, like couches, dinner tables, guest beds, TVs, dressers, coatrack. Then for reasons I can't remember I decided I needed a big apartment set up for parties and guests. And while there have been a few visitors, it's not enough to justify the higher rent and all the stuff.

My apartment is too big, and I have too much stuff. So.... For the second time in 3 years I need to get rid of all my unused crap and move. Why get rid of all my stuff? Let's look at what we're really dealing with here.

Item :		Used for :
Couch		Extra table
Guest bed		Extra table
Dinner table		Extra desk
Chairs		Dust collection
TV		Dust collection
Dressers		Clothes pile table
End tables		Holding floor down

It all needs to go. Eventually. When I figure out a plan that will actually work. Which is going to be problematic while I drift in and out of sanity and my fundamental beliefs about everything change and evolve faster than I can keep up with and age concerns become unavoidable and I try to solve the hermit vs social problem and..... All the unknown unknowns. Will I be hosting dinner parties in a year? Will friends and family suddenly start coming over on the regular? Will getting rid of it all be as dumb an idea as it was buying it in the first place? After having all this space, will a studio apartment be depressing? Would a tinier meager home make it harder to just stay in and play video games?

Or.... you know.... not.... fuck it.... I could just stay, keep the stuff, and avoid the bother of moving.

Sure. Make a pros vs cons list, as one does. But such a list is exactly what got me to this place, so that's pointless. Oregon, it turns out, is not a logical thing. When Jon says the universe and everything can be understood through reason, Oregon replies, "hold my beer".

Fine.... Let's do the math..... I am forever a hermit, though one who seems to really enjoy a good gathering. I dislike stuff and clutter beyond the minimum required to get the job done, but that minimum often precludes comfort. A smaller place would save enough money to put guests up in a nice hotel room. My adventure style would be enhanced by a more portable existence. I capital N Need - A desk, a kitchen, a camera, a car. The majority of the stuff I have, I never touch or use, and the space it takes up is dumb. But... I really like having a needlessly huge apartment. I love the idea of hosting guests, but I know I won't, because I'm a hermit. The math goes nowhere. Whether palatial or austere, we end up dividing by zero and get infinite potential for both.

We shall see. I had it figured out in San Diego. But Oregon had to go and make it complicated. We shall see.

Today's photo : Completely related to this post. The choice to live in Eugene was made by looking for a location central to all the adventures here. Volcanoes in one direction, the ocean in the other. Metropolis in one direction, lakes and rivers in the other. And that dream has become reality - Drive two hours in any direction and adventures will manifest. But.... Shortsighted as always, I failed to realize that it meant any photo I take will involve a 4+ hour drive. For this photo I drove 7 hours. For the next set of photos I drove 9. In SoCal photo trips were quick and easy. But here it's hard to say whether I'm taking photos or just going on a road trip. So.... Today's photo is yesterday's road trip.

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