Survey #207 Response from Anonymous user

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Which of the following statements best describes your living situation?I’m an “empty nester” who still stores a significant amount of my child’s/children’s stuff in my home.
Please complete one or both of the following statements:
  • “It’s hard for me to let go of my children’s stuff because…”
  • “I’m eager to get rid of some of my children’s stuff so that I will be able to…”
It's hard for me to let go of my children's stuff because it reminds me of those magical years when they were elementary school age. Also they live is small apartments.

I'm eager to get rid of my children's stuff so that I will be able to complete an aging-in-place remodel.
What environmental or social issues most concern you with respect to your efforts to declutter, organize, and maintain your home?Every example above rings true for me.
I spend a lot of time making sure my discarded stuff ends up where it will receive the highest reuse.
I am getting much better at not buying stuff in the first place. The most radical act one can do in our capitalist society that is addicted to "more is better" is to not be a consumer (Yes, I fancy myself to be a rebel.)
Future topics

A few months ago I attended two full days of Dharma talks on Death and Dying by Zoom. It shook loose some thing that was stuck in me and I am now more able to let stuff go out of my life. I have become more accepting of impermanence, non-attachment, and not burdening others with the task of cleaning up after I'm gone.

(A funny story:
For me, the hi-jinks of Heyokah (a Native American trickster) were in fine form at the retreat. The Dharma talks were being given by a Tibetan Buddhist monk whose English was quite good but with an unusual accent. I turned on closed captioning and my Heyokah mind was chuckling along at the mistranscriptions - “karmic debt” became “comic debt”, “Bodhisattva mind” was “bullshit of the mind”. Then “rebirth” came out as “reboot” and my inner Heyokah was like “OMG, the AI-bots ARE taking over!”)

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