Souvenirs

 

Step away from your screen. Stand up. Shake your arms and wipe your eyes. Take a deep breath and then look around.

Look at all the stuff that is on your desk or table. Look at the stuff on the shelves.

No, don’t look back at the screen. Pay attention.

Now take a walk around the house/apartment and take a look at what is in the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, and the garage.

Look at all the kids’ toys, the trinkets, the knickknacks, the animal toys, the tools and appliances. These are all things you purchase (or were gifted) and you had to find a place to store them.

Maybe you have a liking for chicken artwork or maybe teapots. If you follow a band you probably have some of their merchandise. If you have a hankering for Americana there are probably painting, photos, wall hanging, and rugs or maybe the entire space is decorated to your taste. You like trains?

When you walk into someone else’s home, these decorative items are what you notice first. These are things the other person likes to have around them.

Where does all this stuff come from?

All this stuff is what you have accumulated through the years. Now they are your clutter.

Ever wonder why your suitcase is so hard to shut when you are ready to go back home from a week at the beach? It is all those shells you picked up and those towels you didn’t expect to buy and those funky, flowered shirts you’ll never wear again but they will remind you of this trip of drunken nights and sunburned days.

Look at all the shoes you have. Where are you planning on walking? That beautiful wedding dress is a one-of-a-kind purchase but will you be buried in it (if you could squeeze into it)? Are hats still in season?

When you kids start going through all this chattel to box up things that don’t smell too bad or pass down heirlooms to another generation, it all become trash. You life will wind up in a landfill, just like you.

Travel down any road and see the leftover dreams of teenager’s first rides rusting in piles. Antique shops are full of pass dreams and memories. Museums are nothing more than displays of generations gone past with whatever people have dug up after years of weather washed it all away. Don’t forget to stop at the Gift Shop.

Before you sit back down in front of the glowing screen and lose yourself in today’s fantasy, look at all the stuff that will be boxed up when you are no longer here.

These are the souvenirs of life. These are the treasures you wished to keep.

You might want to throw away that stack of dirty magazines your grandchildren fill find and remember you by?