The worth of things…

Jeroen

My father died exactly a year ago today. Last year around this time I had my first look at the contents of his apartment, which I found very confrontational because it was like he was still there, in the furniture he had chosen, his gadgets, his art. I had to wait several months for the legal issues to become clear. Then my mother and I had to inventory his apartment and find out what things were worth.

In the end it became clear to me that almost all the things in my father’s apartment would give more trouble to sell than the money I would get back for them. It was a good lesson in letting go. I kept a few things for sentimental reasons, but most of it went to charity shops, and to a clearance firm that I contracted.

In the course of a lifetime we gather many things, and then we need a home to store them in. But these things we cherish at the end of our lives have to be cleared up, often at a cost. Little that we leave behind still has value after we pass, and there is much to be said for living a life with minimal possessions, like our monk friends do.

Reflecting on things today…