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Giving stuff away

vixthenomadvixthenomad
edited September 2011 in General Banter
I've been an avid eBayer for many years and have often refused to get rid of stuff that I couldn't sell on. However, just lately I have started experimenting with giving stuff away instead - and it feels GOOD. Not in a self-centred 'aren't-I-wonderful' way, either. It just feels nice - in a very warm, quiet way - to think that my unwanted possessions are benefiting other people.

For instance, I studied homoeopathy for a couple of years between 2002 and 2004, and I've been hoarding all the books since dropping out - but after a metta meditation session recently I had the overwhelming compulsion to pass the books on to my old college to distribute amongst students who are having financial troubles. And I have also given a bag of my daughter's old clothes away on Gumtree. Picturing new homoeopathy students being pleased and surprised that they don't have to fork out money on books after all, and imagining the other mother dressing her little girl in the clothes my daughter no longer needs, feels right in a cosmic harmony sort of way - so much so that, after an 8-year lapse, I have re-enrolled as a blood donor too.

I wanted to share this with the forum because it's been such a profound spiritual development for me. I don't think I realised before quite how miserly I have always been. It has even got me thinking about being a little more generous in my words and thoughts, too - giving the gift of patience and kindness where I would usually be stingy with it.

Comments

  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    Giving stuff away de-clutters your house a lot faster than waiting for it to sell on ebay. And it's not as time-consuming as taking photos, putting all that up on the internet, watching the action, etc. And as you realized, there are plenty of people who need those give-aways; students on a very limited budget who can't afford new textbooks, and so on.

    More power to you, vix! :)
  • zombiegirlzombiegirl beating the drum of the lifeless in a dry wasteland Veteran
    my problem is that i frequently hang onto those meaningful things, waiting for the 'right' person to give it to. but i often find that the right person never comes.

    i hate wasting though. books that i can part with, i often sell back to the used book shops in exchange for more books. but the books that my guy won't take, i give to the library. if they don't make the shelves, then they sell them. i don't mind making the library a profit at all.
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    I didn't know the library takes donations. Thanks for this, ZG.
  • Ada_BAda_B
    We have a scheme in UK called Freecycle, which aims to keep stuff out of landfill (which we have a diminishing amount of space for, being an island). It's great - I've got rid of things like a trampoline in the garden, which I was unable to take down myself, broken bikes, a mobility scooter in need of repair, even old furniture.

    Most of the recipients have been very grateful, plus I've not had to worry about cleaning the stuff up and making it suitable for sale, or getting it delivered. I've had at least two recipients who were on welfare and struggling to get their lives back together, so it felt good to help them, at the same time as de-cluttering.

    Tomorrow I've got a guy coming to collect my ancient laptop - it's got a floppy disk drive and a mono monitor! But he's an collector of elderly computers and is trying to build a museum. So that should be fun.

    The rest of the smaller stuff we get rid of, like clothes and toys, largely go to the charity shops. These days, they can recycle rags, shoes and spectacles so even stuff that is beyond use can still earn the charities money.

    I'm a total fan of Freecycling, plus it's good for the community. Sometimes you can sell stuff and make money, but there are times it's just simply not worth the effort or I cannot manage (I'm disabled and have a partner who works a lot).
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    We have Freecycle in the US too. It's wonderful!
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited September 2011
    I've never heard of Freecycle in the US. I wish I had, before my move earlier this summer! Very inspiring story, vix.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    www.freecycle.org :)
  • vixthenomadvixthenomad
    I love Freecycle too! Also, Gumtree has a giveaway section.
  • Ada_BAda_B
    I Freecycled an old computer yesterday. The guy who came to pick it up was surprised it was such a good machine (a Dell Pentium) and said he would fix it up, program it with Linux (which is free) and give it to a disabled person who needed internet access. The guy himself had had to give up work due to MS and now restoring computers is his hobby.

    Given that this computer has been sitting in a corner, gathering dust and adding to the clutter, it felt very good to press it back into service - and help both the guy with MS, who'd enjoy fixing it up, and the person he would eventually pass it on to. Three people were helped yesterday, just because I decided not to throw something away.
  • vixthenomadvixthenomad
    Brilliant!
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