Self Portrait Challenge - Introduce Yourself, Week 4
written by Java Junkie
The UN-Pack Rat
Since there's really no way in hell I'm going to take a picture of myself today, with rash still covering my neck and face, I went in search of a picture of me that could say something about me. This is what I found. What it says isn't apparent to any of you, so I'm going to tell you about myself and then why the photo says that.
If I had a "List of 100 things" it would most definitely contain that I've never lived anywhere longer than 3 years. I changed schools 13 times before I graduated high-school, which believe it or not, I graduated with a 3.8 from. It wasn't because I was a bad kid, or an army brat. It was simply that my family moved a lot due to various circumstances. My mother's three divorces, various job changes and promotions of those perspective husbands, cheaper rent.
After I moved out on my own, my nomadic lifestyle continued. In with these friends, out with this friend, here with this boyfriend, here on my own. Half of the time it felt like I wasn't even done unpacking before I was packing up again. This is probably why I'm so neurotic about the placement of various things within whatever house I'm living in - simply so I can make sure I can find them... If they're not there, then they're probably packed up somewhere. At least that's what my sub-conscious thinks more than likely.
Growing up that way, to many, might seem like it would be hard on a kid. The fact of the matter is that I wouldn't know. It's what I knew. It's all that I knew. And to be perfectly honest, I'm actually glad that I got to experience so many different places. Country and city, small town and big. I've gone to school down the street from auto plants and next door to pig farms. I've lived mere miles from a state wild life preserve and from a Six Flags Amusement Park. All of it has given me a larger understanding of how different each and every place is. How unique each city is, and how each area operates on it's own mechanics. Dialect and dress, pastimes and pressure. They're all different from place to place. And somewhere in all of that diversity I was able to come up with a much better picture of who I was, and who I am now. Most importantly I grew up with a much larger real understanding of the challenges we all go through. How hardships differ from place to place, yet there are always still hardships. How to enjoy diversity amongst people, learn from it, grow from it, and become a better person myself, rather than fear it, judge it or look down upon it.
Through all of the moves the one habit I have that I will always have is that I am NOT a pack rat. I don't have the corsage that I wore to prom. I don't have my wedding dress from a decade ago. I have exactly one year book and one journal from my teenage years. I have ONE photo album of my teenage friends. I have one set of dishes, one set of silverware. If I haven't used it in the last 6 months I throw it out with very small exceptions, which include:
- 3 Quilts my grandmother made before she passed away.
- A set of china that belonged to my grandfather before he passed away.
- A photo album of the only "family vacation" I took as a kid. I have this only because we took my grandmother.
- Various pieces of inherited jewelry.
- Assorted backdrops and lights from my aspiring photography days.
- My teddy bear and Bangle collection
Other than those things, I have clothes and holiday decorations and that's pretty much it. I don't keep junk around thinking "I might use this someday" or "someday this might be valuable." I'm forever hounding Monkey to throw out the bajillion computer parts he keeps as spares, until, of course, he makes $200 selling them on ebay.
Now - how does the above picture tell this story one might ask. The answer is simple. I love the picture. I took it two or three months ago when the snow was melting off the ground. But I only kept the size you see above. I didn't keep the original size because I never intended to use it for anything other than a blog profile pic. If I'm not going to use it, even I get tossed. So allow me to introduce myself, the UN-pack Rat.
4 Comments:
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greatness lies in simplicity
By
, at 1:51 AM
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CC, No yearbooks, no journals (except for "My First Puppy Scrapbook"), no wedding dress or headpiece (I do still have my wedding album from husband #1 as it was a beautiful ceremony and he was a decent guy). Very few pieces of inherited jewelry (I lost a few when I let go of some carved wooden boxes that were very precious to me in one of my (manic?) simplification sprees probably four years ago... intentionally not looking inside of them. One set of dishes here (I got rid of the full 12pc set + glasses + accessories of Fantasia crystal ones and replaced them with a 4pc set of blue enameled campware and various sizes of mason jars... 8 & 12oz jelly jars are the most versatile). Hmm... two sets of silverware (you got me there) but one is a four pc set and the other is a piecemeal combo of two very similar sets that came from my grandmother and M's family. OK enough rambling... Hugs & Kisses, me
By
mariluna, at 8:53 AM
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haha and this surprises you? :)
By
I *technically* have 2 sets of silverware (the same design) or rather, a full set and what's not been lost from the second set (Lou has a habbit of accidentally throwing pieces away with paper plates or whatever.) I have another set that's never been opened, too, that I got as a gift. I'm keeping that for company to make sure I have a matching set rofl. Java Junkie, at 11:33 AM
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How is it possible that Chris and you are related? He never wants to throw away anything! Pieces of speaker wire, telephone cord, scrap wood (because those bits of 2x4 might come in handy some day?), t-shirts he's owned since High School, Grandpa G's sheet music, records and cassette tapes, Uncle Donnie's photo negatives, etc, etc. No wonder our basement is such a mess!
By Table4Five, at 8:09 PM
