I learned an interesting lesson yesterday about value. I learned it from St. Francis a long time ago, but I realized yesterday I hadn't really taken his wise advice. And the really interesting thing is, he actually visited me and is hanging about for a while. I'm praying every time I look at him, I'm reminded about the value of friendship, faith and things that you "think" are valuable.
I'm just an ordinary person. Like you and almost every other person I know, over time you've amassed .... stuff.
It may be tools, it may be art, it may be books, it may be shoes. Perhaps you're a person who really likes shiny things, like necklaces or jewellery of some kind. You might be the proverbial "picker" who loves "kitzy" things. Over the years I did pick up things. Books were probably my biggest impulse purchase, but I've certainly got enough wooden statues, little pictures, knick-knacks, hat, scarves. Things.
These things pile up over time. I'm certainly not a hoarder, but it is more than amazing how much "things" can start to invade your freedom to pick up and move or even just enjoy the sparse and clean look of a room.
It wasn't just me. My husband's garage is an interesting collection of tools, bottles .... things...
I've been working on purging these things from my life for almost a year. It's not like I had rooms piled up. I just didn't have a lot of time. Life got in the way of organizing a good "purge".
I would drag things from the basement collection of things and add them to the garage. I would take things from one room or another and also drag them to the garage. Eventually a full 1/3 of the garage was full of "things".
I know from business practice, it's always good to have smart goals. Setting goals is easy but achieving them isn't. That's why setting SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely - is the first step in making your goal a reality.
So number one was Specific: Getting rid of all these things. I don't use them. I don't even enjoy them anymore. Many of them I thought had great value. Comic books, old boxes from the 60's, orange crates, hippy garb from the 60's, old things. Collectible art and jewellery. Purses, some of them expensive. Scarves, some of them very expensive, like a Gucci scarf I bought in Rome and never wear.
Number two: Measureable. Well. There is 1/3 of our garage that needs to disappear.... that's pretty measureable.
Number three: Achievable: Getting together a well marketed garage sale would send droves of people to my door because, well, you know, my "things" are very important and desirable.
Number four: Realistic. In my mind, everyone would want these things. This was my "realistic" goal. Why wouldn't they want these "things".
Number five: Timely. This is where I struggled. I was "too busy" there wasn't "time" I started to hate my own excuses, so I bit the bullet, set a date and announced it on Craigslist. TWO days of garage sale. I let the neighbours know so they could also get involved. I was planning on advertising in multi-markets, and getting signage MADE and putting the signs everywhere.
Except ... I didn't do that. I was "too busy" again. Nevertheless, Saturday morning there were people. A steady group of people. On Saturday my prices were what I thought was reasonable, but I quickly realized what I paid $100 for, people were willing to pay around $3. And no one was interested in hippy kitchz or books.
Things were sold. I did okay. But I only actually got "rid" of around 20 percent of my junk ... er "things".
I was more hopeful on day two. This would be the day, I thought. The neighbours were now fully engaged. We put up more signs and waited and waited and waited.
They dribbled in. The neighbour across the street sold some things. I sold a few things. I dropped my prices. Still no deal.
This is where St. Francis comes in. My neighbour asked me if I wanted her St. Francis statue. St. Francis is one of my all time favorite saints. One of my favorite stories was this...
Born in 1181/1182 to a wealthy cloth merchant, Pietro Bernardone, and
his wife Pica in the town of Assisi, high in the Umbrian hills of
central Italy, Francis grew up in privilege. A spoiled young man, he
led an extravagant lifestyle, throwing expensive parties for his
friends and dressing in the finest silk fashions brought back from
France by his father. When it came to "things" Francis had it in droves. But after his conversion, he realized that these "things" were actually keeping him away from growing spiritually, and he was in bondage to them. Only by giving them away for free to others was he truly happy.
So here I was, with this big statue of St. Francis that my neighbour didn't want and I did. BUT it was the message of St. Francis that spoke clearly to me.
It was time for all this stuff to go. For Free. So I jumped on Craigslist, announced the free stuff, and went outside and told every person who walked into our yard that the things were free. That's when the fun happened. The neighbours had fun in our yard too calling out to anyone walking by, "Come get some free stuff!". I loved seeing the shocked faces. I loved making people happy. Those so-called precious things to me became only precious by giving them away. By making someone else happy. The nice Muslim man who took the fish tank and didn't understand why we just wanted to give it to him. "Are you sure? Are you for real? Seriously?" It was great. The older man who appreciated all the music... The nephew who is excited about the snowboard that Chad used to own. The new grandmother who is preparing to play dressup with all the jewellery that she just got. The comic books to the collector. The last thing I gave away was that expensive Gucci scarf to a sweet little hipster girl who really didn't understand why I won't be putting that on Craigslist.
But I did. Those things were still keeping me in some sort of covetous bondage. I wasn't coveting my neighbours goods, I was coveting my own! I had valued them, when really they had no value at all, in the big picture. Maybe some of those people will be selling them again. I just have to say a big "whatever' because I've never felt freer.
I still have some free stuff/crap/things in my garage, and I'm hoping that someone comes and takes them away. I'm taking the leftovers to a thrift store. There's crystal wineglasses, and a few scarves, and who knows what else.
I hope that this lesson makes me think before my eyes are distracted by some little knick-knack again.
Thanks Frankie. And welcome to my garden, statue of St. Francis. I hope you enjoy it there, to remind me of the value of giving away things of no value, and giving away things of great value, like faith.
