It's Just Stuff

I have been in a purchasing frenzy of late; I'm stocking up on the things I need to take with me to Southeast Asia. Backpack, DEET, compressed towelettes, good walking shoes, disposable underwear (yes, folks, it IS made!)...but I am fervently hoping that what I bring back from this trip will be so much more than what will fit into a backpack. I think I am learning that a large part of a journey such as this is trying to decide beforehand what to bring back. Rather than make a list of what to procure "over there," I have decided to bring back little or nothing in the way of material goods. I want peace. (No, not world peace, which I realize it unattainable). I'd like my mind to stop spinning constantly - to be able to be truly at peace with myself and in my life. I hope that, when I return, I will have learned that if I can spend a month living out of a backpack, everything else is just "stuff".

This doesn't mean that I intend to give away all of my wordly belongings and live in an ashram (besides, I am not big on lentils as a dietary staple). But perhaps I can start to understand that there are things much more important than a bigger TV, having the latest gadget, or never having to wear the same dress twice. That's one of the lessons I want to learn.

(Now, I fully expect my children to call me and say that, out of love and in the interest of helping me attain my goals, they will be happy to take any of my current 'things' away so that I won't be distracted by them). Speaking of kids, I think mine are absolutely what I will miss most over there; granted, I don't talk to them every day (OK, in the case of my son, not even every week - ALEC, CALL your mother once in a while!). I wish I could bring them with me and watch this new place through their eyes. Ah well, they'll just have to look at my 4,855 pictures after I get back. I can see them rolling their eyes even now....

Peace,
Janine