The Great Purge - Part 3

Resistance Is Real

Hi Friends,

Welcome back to my series, the Great Purge, where I am unpacking (see what I did there?) how I quit my “safe” life, changes that led to my decisions, making it up as I go and the process of disposing of/giving away 90% of my things that were in a storage unit for 5 years. Whew! Lots going on here, spanning several years, an origin story and more!  Which is why it is in three parts. Thanks for sticking with it. 

Ok - so picking up where we left off. In October 2019, I returned to Portland, Oregon after 8 life-changing months living around the world in a different country every month, traveling with a company called Remote Year. This travel experience had changed me, for the better, and also left me longing for more, to explore more of our wonderful wide world. I knew I wanted to travel this way again, and soon, but I had some work calling me in Oregon and I wanted to share my travel experiences in real life and find a community of like-minded people who were interested in living and exploring this way. 

I rented a very small apartment which I found on Airbnb but was able to go direct with a short-term lease for 6 months with the owner after meeting up in person to see the space. I was working with out-of-town clients and I traveled to their location once a month for multiple days and I didn’t need something big - having a tiny, furnished space seemed perfect. At the same time, I was working on a presentation about my “quitting my life”; defining success for myself; my time with Remote Year and working remotely.  My plan was to promote and execute this event in Q1 of 2020 at a Portland co-work space. I was also looking at leaving the US again in late spring of 2020 and trying to decide where to go.

In early March 2020, I sat in a room of 20 or so folks who showed up for my talk. The sign-up form had about 30-40 but people either messaged they couldn’t attend after all or didn’t come. I wasn’t too disappointed because I was excited to be getting this “thing” I had been working on out into the world and the people who came were very engaged and enthusiastic.  But as I look back it is incredible to me that I really had no idea what was coming just a few days later: stop the spread and a complete departure from life as we knew it. 

2020 - In Brief…

This week is my birthday week (October 16) and as I was working on this missive I  have been ruminating on how different things were 4 years ago (and also shockingly the same, ahem - the pending US election). During the early days of Covid shut-downs I stayed in the small apartment, figuring out life and work but soon felt trapped by the tiny space. I eventually moved to another spot in Portland that was more comfortable and in a great community that I always thought I would like to live in and it was perfect for that strange summer. 

2020

By autumn of 2020, I beyond needed to see my son and flew to Arizona to spend time with him  (wearing two masks - having no one in the middle seat on the plane - airports like ghost towns). I also had a blissful road trip to the San Juan Islands (read here) that was magical. I have to say I genuinely appreciated the slowing down of life and felt lucky to be in a place like Oregon for that time in the world. I felt safe and supported there and my gratitude goes beyond measure. 

Right before the 2020 election I moved again and spent the winter/spring of 2021 in one of my very favorite spots ever, living in a historic building in NW Portland that overlooked the city. Very safe, quiet, lovely neighbors and adjacent to one of the best parks in the city where I walked for at least 2 hours a day. Again - I feel very lucky and filled with gratitude for how things unfolded for me during such a turbulent time.

2021 Summer in Arizona and Dreams of Italy

In spring 2021, after getting my first vaccination,  I decided to spend a couple of months in Tucson, Arizona which turned into the whole summer. Tucson is where my son and I lived for 10 years, moving there when he was 8 years old. We both consider the charming southwest city our home or “where we are from” even though we originally came from New England. Tucson has a very special place in my heart. My son now lives in Scottsdale and I was called to be near him so we could spend time together but also to revisit Tucson. I had moved to Oregon in 2006 and hadn’t spent more than a few days at a time in Tucson in many years. Tucson in summer is always quiet and hot [naturally] and just slow but in 2021 it was even more so. I was blessed with another great rental and the most prolific abundant monsoon season that the desert had seen in over a decade. I reconnected with dear old friends, worked with multiple clients remotely, reacquainted myself with the magic of the desert and contemplated what was next. 

Well, next turned out to be Italy. In the middle of the summer I started to have very vivid dreams of Italy and Italy was showing up in all of my Instagram stories. I had NEVER been to Italy (if you can believe it - sometimes I cannot) and hadn’t really thought about it as a destination for me until that summer when it filled my subconscious. People I didn’t know showed up in my feed proclaiming Italy was as it hadn’t been seen in close to 40 years: empty of tourists. Italy was hit very hard in the pandemic and were slowly recovering. I felt like I was being called there. So I answered the call. Near the end of the summer I booked an apartment beginning in October (leaving on my birthday!) in Puglia for a month with no other plans made. My trip would end in January 2022 in Florence. I need to give this particular time in Italy its own post, as for some reason I have not yet, so stay tuned for that. But let’s just say the minute I stepped off the plane in Bari, Italy, I felt like I was home and have been returning to this gloriously delicious and welcoming country for months at a time since. 

Puglia 2021

That trip was my first foray traveling truly solo without the support of something like Remote Year. I did everything myself and was alone. It was wonderful and life-altering in the best way. I do NOT speak Italian but was armed with a language app and Google translate and to say that all of the Italians I interacted with were generous and wonderful as I stumbled through trying to shop, dine, and travel around, is an understatement. 

This time in Italy changed me again and showed me a different way of living was not only possible but incredibly enriching and magical. I stayed in Italy for the 90-days I was allowed with my Schengen visa but as soon as I was back in the US in 2022 I began planning my next visit. 

It was while in Italy in early 2023, the week of the New Year that I wrote in my journal: it is time to get rid of the storage unit. 

Resistance is REAL

I knew it was beyond time to get rid of the storage unit and emotionally I was ready. June 2023 would be the 5 year anniversary of “temporarily” putting my things in storage. The time seemed both like a minute and a decade - so much had happened since 2018! The things in my storage unit belonged to a version of me that I had said goodbye to and I was ready to move on. 

But, friends, let me tell you: resistance is real. It would take me a good 3 months of being back in Portland to begin to tackle the storage unit. I looked for a million excuses and then finally I woke up one morning and said STOP and START. Stop procrastinating and get started!

I’m not going to sugar coat it: it was intimidating to stand in front of all those boxes and furniture and memories - many lifetimes lived in there but it was TIME. 

One of the first things I tackled were the boxes: and the first one was full of journals. I love journals and love to write and at first it felt like I would be abandoning old friends to dispose of them. But a bunch of those journals housed some pretty dark times of my life and I was ready to honor them but disconnect from them so I began the process of breaking them down to be shredded. 

Going through the journals, I was tempted to read some and realized that I didn’t need to be transported back. I just wanted to let go. It was a time for moving forward. So I queued up a good playlist or two [some Taylor Swift ‘Red’ was definitely in there and also an excellent 90’s singer/songwriter essentials] and brought my mini-speaker (that I travel everywhere with since 2021 - essential!) And I danced it out while slowly dismantling this cave of dusty memories. 

Note: breaking down my journals was a tedious business and one that taught me to NEVER buy a journal that wasn’t 100% recyclable because covers and bindings go into landfill. Ugh. 

Bringing me to…..

Ethically Disposing of a Life - Harder Than It Should Be

When I decided to purge my storage unit, I was determined to not throw everything in a landfill. First of all, I had some really gorgeous furniture in there. For example, my bed, which I had made for me in 2006 when I moved to Portland, was my favorite thing that I was parting with - gray green linen headboard and footboard and the most expensive luxe mattress -sigh. I had decided not to sell things because I didn’t have any photos and would not be able to put my bed together for a photo (where would I do this??). I came to terms with the fact that I had paid for these things long ago and I would be delighted for them to go to a good home. There was someone I knew I would offer first look and she did indeed take my bed and a small truck full of items from the unit. She was in LOVE with the bed (it was dreamy) and I was happy for her to have it. 

At the same time I started researching online places to give my furniture to. It was shockingly hard to find a place that would consider taking my living room furniture and chairs. Habitat for Humanity said they weren’t accepting anything at the time and Goodwill was a last resort. Goodwill has become a dumping ground for a lot of people just taking their trash there unfortunately and they are overwhelmed. I wanted to make sure my things went to someone who needed them not a landfill so I kept looking. I was able to find a local company who provided furniture for refugees and I had to go through a screening process - they only wanted things truly in good to excellent condition (valid!). luckily my things fit that bill. 

I had to go to a different spot for my electronics that were obsolete and found one about a 30-minute drive away outside of Portland. I was happy to make the trip but between my rental house; the storage unit and various places of disposal one section could take up an entire day if not more. 

My clothes and bags and shoes - so many things I hadn’t worn in YEARS - I gave to some very nice consignment shops and have never gone back. One shop was so delighted with so many of items in garment bags and their original boxes and couldn’t wait to display them. They also provided the service of donating anything that didn’t sell to women’s charities. Only taking items in very good condition meant a few things had to be dumped and this process has me rethinking all future purchases. 

I didn’t feel sad at all about this process of purging, donating, disposing. It felt liberating. And once I was truly in the swing and visiting the unit 2-3 times a week to "get stuff done” I was genuinely looking forward to spending my time this way. 

On the day the foundation came to get [most of] the remainder of the storage unit it was looking very empty. I found when the movers arrived that day that the foundation would NOT take any of my wall hangings or framed prints - they were overloaded with “art”.  I had several items that I was keeping for my new, very small, basically-an -oversized-closet, storage unit but had a bunch that needed to go somewhere. But where? 

Again, I thought of Goodwill but I’m sure they had too much of these types of items as well. So I decided to try something I had never done before. I put the items out on a corner, very nicely displayed, with a big sign that said “nice things FREE to good home”. I put them out there one afternoon and when I went in the house for the evening, which didn’t have a view of the corner, they were all still there. 

The next morning I woke and several things were gone! I was shocked. Where I was living was not a very busy street and in a small neighborhood pocket, tucked away from continuous traffic. But somehow things were gone. I went out for a few hours that day and came back and everything was gone. Success in less than 24 hours!

But the funniest thing is that a few days later I was out walking and a neighborhood restaurant that had reopened that summer of 2023, after a couple of years of being closed (they had a fire during 2021 and it had taken quite awhile to get back up and running) had one of my prints hung on their patio! I loved that they took it from the corner and it was a perfect addition to their decor. Win! 

Finally, in early August 2023 the day came where I moved completely out of that storage unit. The unit was in an area of Portland that I hadn’t lived in since 2018 and it was quite out of the way for me to get to all those years that I visited to change out clothes, grab seasonal items and yes, add boxes. It had become a way of life. But now I was moving the rest of my things to a storage unit facility more central. I had to get some movers because the few boxes I had were quite heavy - full of memories and things I couldn’t part with from life: photo albums and art and sculptures that I hope to take with me always. When the movers took everything in a matter of minutes (less than 10) I stood looking at the large empty space as they made their way down to the truck. I was overcome with emotion. Not sadness per say but the feeling of truly it being an ending. But also a beginning. I was proud of myself for getting this done. Closing doors to let others open. That was my wish and intention.

I felt like I made so much space in my life - literally and spiritually - for new things to come in. To say that I felt lighter is an understatement. It was a huge weight was off my shoulders. 

 I said a little thanks to that industrial space that had housed my life and a slightly teary goodbye to that version of me, took a deep breath and left.

The Great Purge was done. 

Thanks so much for reading Pied À Terre Life and my Great Purge series. 

Do let me know if you have any questions or thoughts on disposing of your things - emotionally or logistically - quitting your life - success or anything you would like to explore. I would love to be a resource or to hear your own experience with life changes.

Until next time, my friends.