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Update

It has been 9 years since the auction.

What? 9 years? Shit.

So here's an update. I did sell most everything. What I decided not to sell, or what didn't sell, I either donated or brought out to my sister in Montana. I moved to California in Oct of 2007. I brought my dog to my dad's cousin who lived on a farm and could give her more room to run. I brought my cat with me. Everything was either shipped or transported on my car to the coast.

For 2 years I rented a room in someone else's place. All I needed was a bed and a place to put my clothes. Then I moved into an apartment in Palo Alto with a roommate, furnished with items being sold by Japanese students going back to Japan. I was really trying to minimize my possessions and footprint.

In August of 2014 I moved to Phoenix. Again I lived in other people's houses. Last fall I realized that my personality and the personality of people renting rooms did not mesh, so I got my own place. After living for so long in a bedroom, it was a shock to move into 700 sf. It felt huge--too big for one person. And trying to furnish it was almost overwhelming. I did head to IKEA and learned a lot about what my style was, what I needed, and what I do based on making others happy.

Almost 6 years post auction

It's been almost six years since the auction.
Questions you all may have:

1. Yes, I did sell or give away everything I was planning to.
2. No, I didn't re-accumulate items. At least not many.
3. I try not to use the term "happy" to describe my feelings or to make decisions.Happiness is most often thought of as a fleeting, positive internal state that brings a smile to one's face. I am trying to focus more on Eudaimonia (see Seligman and Greek philosophers, among others) and working on a good life if not a meaningful one.
   So whether or not I am happy I did get rid of things is something I can only really evaluate at the end of my life in context with everything else I have done and experienced.

Long, busy week

Started a job as contract attorney doing document review last week. Pretty interesting, although going through documents in electronic form is not for me. I like touching them. Immediately after punching out there I drive across town to St Paul to serve papers. Then home to sleep. Then up again to review docs. Then papers, then home, you get the picture. I have yet to find an efficient way to drive Mpls/St Paul. I find I spend more time and energy avoiding 94 traffic than I would actually spend in 94 traffic.
Sold the bookcases, rugs, bed frame last week. Little furniture left and lots of boxes. This weekend the goal is to get the boxes of things I am not keeping to be picked up by some charity. Back to work! Writing a blog at work in a law firm reminds me of Anonymous Lawyer. A great book.

3 days left

Everything that hasn't gone by Sunday will be donated the following weekend. Hmm.... or maybe I should try to sell it during Cinco de Mayo? No!!! It must be gone.

2 things happened this week. One, I stopped by the Black Dog Cafe to get some coffee monday am and saw the Clouds in Water Zen studio brochure. The topic was generosity and how it can lead to increasing expansiveness in life. Which made me reconsider the tack of selling things versus, say giving them away. (as one comment states). I seem to be trying to buy enlightenment or good karma by selling away my attachment. Kind of like sending money to a televangilist. Thus the deadline for sales.

The second thing was selling my bed frame today. A different perspective sleeping on the floor rather than 3 feet off the floor. And it shook what I think it means to be an adult. When I started professing, being an adult was getting a regular paycheck and being able to buy substantial pieces of furniture that did not involve milk crates and unfinished shelves. The bed frame was one of the first pieces I did buy after I bought my house. So does it mean I am no longer an adult if I no longer have substantial pieces of furniture? Or is being an adult doing the difficult and sometimes tedious tasks that keep you a part of society?

And my bff called me bff, which made me smile and laugh at the same time. Especially because he's a hetero male and that is not common language for hetero males. Or gay males, either.

Art Crawl First Day

81 yesterday and I was inside all day long! That is truly a MN thing to say. Living someplace where it is nice all the time, there isn't that impetus to go out and enjoy a nice one.

Quite a few things sold yesterday. Still a lot left. It was nice to see a few things, like a toy stable, got to a girl who quite simply fell in love with it at first sight. She was speechless when I let it go for less than the asking price.

Art Crawl and Estate sale

This weekend is the big St Paul art crawl. Artists's lofts and co-op buildings are being opened for browsers and purchasers to check things out. It is a lot of fun. And since I am cat sitting for someone and they have given me permission, I am also selling some smaller things this weekend. Come on by Sat pm and Sun. Tilsner Bldg on Broadway.