Classes start tomorrow, meaning tonight is my first school night in four months. And in which case, I’m exactly where I should be – the last one awake, sitting in front of the computer and occasionally lurking Facebook, putting off sleep by watching the latest episode of Weeds with my earphones in. Though tonight I’m significantly less tired and I also (thankfully) don’t have any reading or writing to plow through yet.
After cramming an entire summer of traipsing-around-NYC-like-a-tourist-and-partying-like-it’s-1999* into these past eight days, I’ve reached the final stages of unpacking. And I cannot believe how much stuff I’ve accumulated in the two-and-a-half years I’ve been in college. I blame this pack rat habit on my sentimental tendency to bestow meaning upon (and subsequently save) everythingg. I mean, today I found the pack of cigarettes that I legally bought when I turned eighteen and never smoked; 2007 birthday cards still in their envelopes; and several cute, heart-shaped notes from my mother reminding me that she loves me.
Maria, Emily, and I (roommates!) last year. My wall = so many pictures! Too many to keep up with/update.
Since this packing and moving process is now routine – regularly transitioning between dorm, home, and apartment every year – it has become impractical and unnecessary to hold onto everything. So I’ve decided to take a page from Max’s book and attempt some form of minimalism. I need less stuff. Because it’s too tiring to physically take my entire past with me and because it’s entirely possible to remain sentimental/nostalgic by looking through old Facebook photos and commenting on old friends’ walls. And by reading old blog posts. Yup, the internet is my digital anti(-hoarding)drug. That, and I can access my memories on any web device without having to strap a crate of pictures/mementos to my back.
*Oh, and speaking of summer of 1999…[click that link by the asterisk.]
