It is now almost midnight, I haven't yet finished packing, and tomorrow is moving day! Around me are boxes, some only half packed, and it is hard to believe that three years ago, I got on a plane with just two suitcases to start a new life in a foreign land. Where all my belongings have come from, I can only make a rough estimate -- many households things (furniture, dishes, decorations) came from friends, and others I of course purchased myself along the way.
Over the past several days, I have attempted to purge... give, discard or donate items I no longer need. However, it occurs to me that humans spend an incredible amount of energy and time accumulating stuff -- material belongings that often hold sentimental or monetary value, stuff we often become attached to, without being totally conscious of it. Without a doubt, these items may well be useful and beneficial, even if at the same time we could live without most of it. Ask anyone who has just come through a natural disaster and lost all their material belongings and although devastated, they are certainly happy to be alive.
I treasure experiences too. Climbing the Great wall of China, a helicopter ride over Hawaii, para-sailing off the shores of Malaysia, exploring the architecture in Prague or swimming in Israel's dead sea are certainly unforgettable moments. I can certainly understand why some people go backpacking for months on end, leaving behind all that is familiar and instead trading it for the thrill of exploring new territory.
However, I think there is something more in it for us than simply collecting experiences or material belongings. Sometimes it is a glimpse of something just out of reach -- that desire to explore, to be inspired, to be more alive than before, to live life to the fullest.
And with that, tomorrow begins a new day and a new chapter of my life as I leave this home full of memories behind, and enter into another.
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