Oh this is splendid, Kate. So much yes. Here in Projectkin.org land, we spend a lot of time thinking about the artifacts of our ancestors we start with on storytelling. I love that "don't assume that because it's important to you it will be important to others." That's so true.
Thank you for your comment. I imagine looking for artefacts of your ancestors would be a time when you wanted them to leave more! Sadly, young people rarely want anything from their elders, and by the time they are much older and would appreciate them, the old folk and their possessions are long gone.
A really excellent post with lots for me to think about as I look to reduce my worldly goods. My inspiration for how much to keep is Edward Lear's poem:
On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,--
One old jug without a handle,--
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,
These were all the worldly goods,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
But I have failed so far. I've kept many books on my travels (along with the jug without a handle), which is absurd, given how much space they take up in a small flat in Tokyo. But I find it hard to let them go.
Thank you for reminding me of the splendid Edward Lear poem. I hope you keep all the books and your jug without a handle. Life is too sterile without some of our special things around us.
Putting into words what many of us are thinking. Many of us have children that hold no interest in old things, genealogy or history, proving "Children come through you but they are not of you." So, I reconcile this knowledge with the reality that I am doing this for a descendant yet unborn. I am the family historian and I know of the other family historians back three generations. Some I never knew and they would be astonished to know that I was the one to pick up the torch. But I am grateful beyond words for the books, manuscripts and stories they left behind for me.
@serengenity that is a great way of looking at your role as a family historian. I love your connection with previous family historians, all of whom faced the same challenges. Your work will be an important part of the whole.
What a great article! I was particularly struck by the advice on what to do when people want to give you things you do not want. A family member has started doing this and I find it impossible to tell them I do not want their treasured possessions, however much they may mean to them. So I accept them and have to keep them around the house as then when they visit they ask me where they are..... I am determined not to do this to anyone else, now or in the future!
Thank you for your comment. It is so hard to say no to a family member, as they really think they are doing you a favour. I hope none of your friends do the same!
What a timely and thoughtful post, Kate, thank you. I feel as if I've been "decommissioning" for several years now. It's an ongoing process. I tackle one drawer, one corner of a room, one cabinet at a time. My business had required owning a lot of professional camera equipment. Now that I'm retired I don't need all of it so I recently gave several cameras, lenses, and tripods to my high school for their art/photography classes. I have so many books many of them live in stacks in various rooms, having outgrown the bookcases. I've been going through those too, giving some away to friends who might enjoy reading them, and the majority to our local library who then sells them for $1 each to raise money for their programs. I have given away hundreds of books and still there are so many here.
Hi Elise, it is a little known phenomenon that books reproduce. If you remove some books, once you are not looking others will fill the space. After you buy your first book and take it home, you are doomed - they will never leave. Welcome to the club. Be thankful they stay static on your shelves, unlike the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Have you watched it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad3CMri3hOs
This is great advice! I've been *attempting* to downsize artifacts and heirlooms and have found the most success with photographing the item, researching it a bit and saving that information digitally. For items I love and want to keep, I have been writing little summaries of the item, when I received it, who it belonged to before me, and why I love it so much. I tuck those notes in with the item so that someday when I'm gone, the next generation will know a little more about it and why it meant so much to me, which may, in turn, endear it to them.
Oh this is splendid, Kate. So much yes. Here in Projectkin.org land, we spend a lot of time thinking about the artifacts of our ancestors we start with on storytelling. I love that "don't assume that because it's important to you it will be important to others." That's so true.
Thank you for your comment. I imagine looking for artefacts of your ancestors would be a time when you wanted them to leave more! Sadly, young people rarely want anything from their elders, and by the time they are much older and would appreciate them, the old folk and their possessions are long gone.
A really excellent post with lots for me to think about as I look to reduce my worldly goods. My inspiration for how much to keep is Edward Lear's poem:
On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,--
One old jug without a handle,--
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,
These were all the worldly goods,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
But I have failed so far. I've kept many books on my travels (along with the jug without a handle), which is absurd, given how much space they take up in a small flat in Tokyo. But I find it hard to let them go.
Thank you for reminding me of the splendid Edward Lear poem. I hope you keep all the books and your jug without a handle. Life is too sterile without some of our special things around us.
Putting into words what many of us are thinking. Many of us have children that hold no interest in old things, genealogy or history, proving "Children come through you but they are not of you." So, I reconcile this knowledge with the reality that I am doing this for a descendant yet unborn. I am the family historian and I know of the other family historians back three generations. Some I never knew and they would be astonished to know that I was the one to pick up the torch. But I am grateful beyond words for the books, manuscripts and stories they left behind for me.
@serengenity that is a great way of looking at your role as a family historian. I love your connection with previous family historians, all of whom faced the same challenges. Your work will be an important part of the whole.
Then you will love my next post.
What a great article! I was particularly struck by the advice on what to do when people want to give you things you do not want. A family member has started doing this and I find it impossible to tell them I do not want their treasured possessions, however much they may mean to them. So I accept them and have to keep them around the house as then when they visit they ask me where they are..... I am determined not to do this to anyone else, now or in the future!
Thank you for your comment. It is so hard to say no to a family member, as they really think they are doing you a favour. I hope none of your friends do the same!
What a timely and thoughtful post, Kate, thank you. I feel as if I've been "decommissioning" for several years now. It's an ongoing process. I tackle one drawer, one corner of a room, one cabinet at a time. My business had required owning a lot of professional camera equipment. Now that I'm retired I don't need all of it so I recently gave several cameras, lenses, and tripods to my high school for their art/photography classes. I have so many books many of them live in stacks in various rooms, having outgrown the bookcases. I've been going through those too, giving some away to friends who might enjoy reading them, and the majority to our local library who then sells them for $1 each to raise money for their programs. I have given away hundreds of books and still there are so many here.
Hi Elise, it is a little known phenomenon that books reproduce. If you remove some books, once you are not looking others will fill the space. After you buy your first book and take it home, you are doomed - they will never leave. Welcome to the club. Be thankful they stay static on your shelves, unlike the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Have you watched it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad3CMri3hOs
This is great advice! I've been *attempting* to downsize artifacts and heirlooms and have found the most success with photographing the item, researching it a bit and saving that information digitally. For items I love and want to keep, I have been writing little summaries of the item, when I received it, who it belonged to before me, and why I love it so much. I tuck those notes in with the item so that someday when I'm gone, the next generation will know a little more about it and why it meant so much to me, which may, in turn, endear it to them.