Susan Kaye Quinn 🌱(she/her)
...just *me* enjoying the beautiful/treasured thing was enough.
Then I would send on to someone else who will appreciate it. Especially before I die.
So much stuff just gets land-filled when someone passes away—I'm very determined to *give away* all but the most precious things before I die (and as an ongoing practice), not only to lessen the burden on my heirs but also to put those lovely/useful things in the hands of someone who will continue to love/use them.
Susan Kaye Quinn 🌱(she/her)
I super encourage you to *use* your beautiful/treasured things. Now. Today. Put them into regular usage.
I have 3 kids and there's *zero* guarantee they will treasure them like I do after I pass away.
I realized (after my parents passed and I could see what things *they* treasured but that had zero meaning for me), that if I wanted my kids to treasure something, I had to use it, in their presence, talk about it, imbue it with meaning. And if I didn't want to do that, that's okay...
felis_catus_domesticus
@Nichelle @susankayequinn Ditto.
Life was much more formal back then too.. who needs tea sets and large sets of china and all the accoutrements of an older, much more formal era? A lifestyle I certainly don't live anymore. Large dishes for big entertaining at home.. If anything I need less stuff and smaller stuff. Not raising a family with 6 kids here..
Susan Kaye Quinn 🌱(she/her)
@Nichelle that's the kind of thing I think is good for Buy Nothing or Craigslist free lists — Goodwill can work too, but that's people looking for more basic, whereas Buy Nothing group people or Craigslist are looking *specifically* for china. I just did a quick search on craigslist and there are lots of china listings.
Mostly, we're not used to thinking about the full lifecycle on things. The more I get used to that, the more ways I find to give things a second life.
felis_catus_domesticus
@Nichelle @susankayequinn or cutesy quaint stuff like spoon collections that don't mean anything to younger generations. pipe holders.. and god help us.. Hummel figurines (yeah, I didn't learn that one watching Better Call Saul..) It's really a challenge "upcycling" such things.
Susan Kaye Quinn 🌱(she/her)
@Nichelle a lot of this is informed by me disposing of the life accumulations of 4 parents. That's why I'm trying to live this, to keep from being a burden to my heirs. And just to live more lightly on the earth given the thing my kids are inheriting most is a planet on fire.
The *right* way to do this is to have the time & thought go in up front. Not acquire/gift things until you've considered the full lifecycle. This is very counter-cultural, but I'm trying.
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