Earlier this year a storm swept through my little town. I was inside of my home when it ripped my roof away. I raced outside, dodging the flying debris as I checked on my neighbors.
To be within a scene I’ve only ever watched play out in movies knowing that I could die was electrifying in its terror. Some cried. Others screamed.
I laughed.
I didn’t care if I lost it all. I had clothes on my back and my phone in my pocket, so I knew that I could start over if I lived through it, and if I didn’t none of it would matter to me anyway.
While I didn’t lose everything that day it made me realize how little my possessions mattered to me. It also made me ask why I keep such things if I care so little about them.
More importantly, it also made me realize that as the world changes, events like this will become more frequent.
I redoubled my efforts to thin down after that day. If it means so little to me now, then why bother keeping it at all?
How would you feel if a disaster caused you to lose everything?
5 responses to “How would you feel if you lost everything?”
5 years ago, my mother died in a house fire while my daughter was severely injured. She and I have come to realize everything is just “stuff” that can be replaced. The hardest part was replacing her driver’s license, social security card, medical things. But not impossible. Sometimes I do regret not having some of my mother’s things to pass down to my grandkids, but nothing can change that. Instead, I have stories about my mom to tell them. Things can be lost in an instant, so I feel it’s best not to get too attached. The most important things to me are my fur babies and my kids.
I’m sorry about the loss of your mom, Chris. As far as those things…no one is ever really gone as long as someone remembers them. Those stories will be passed down for generations with pleasure, minus the worry of keeping stuff for the sake of stuff.
My daughters never met my dad, yet occasionally I’ll hear them sharing the stories I told them from my memories to their friends. It’s beautiful, and our way of keeping him alive.
Peace, Annie
I would be fine as long as my husband got out safely as well. I am fortunate in that I can afford to replace the things that I would otherwise miss–mostly clothes and electronics.
Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to know that your stuff can be replaced?
I’ve had to move suddenly when things went sideways off and on all my life, often down to a bag of my clothes and whatever I was using for a computer. It sucks at best, but it’s the disruption that gets me, not the stuff I leave behind. I like to settle in, even if it’s just me, a couple changes of clothes and a place to sleep with at least a phone. Being disrupted is far worse when you can’t communicate readily, but I could do it again if I had to. I just really don’t want to.