Stuff

I'm reminded of a kids' video featuring the Veggietales (Larry the Cucumber, Junior Asparagus, et al), in which Larry (I think) fills his life with 'stuff', material goods, and is challenged by a fellow vegetable:
'How much more stuff do you want, Larry?'
'I dunno,' he responds, 'how much more stuff is there?'
A classic line and one that cuts to the heart.

The reason I bring this to mind is that we're having our loft re-lagged in preparation or winter. We've therefore had to clear said loft of its contents.

Now, as an aside, I should point out that Mrs Pilgrim and I are not the materialistic type, nor do we consider ourselves hoarders. Indeed, whenever I announce my intention to acquire a new book/item of clothing or whatever, Mrs P can be guaranteed to retort: 'Make sure you throw another one out first'. So you will appreciate, we're unlikely to possess more stuff than most other people - in fact I'd guess we'd be in the lowest quartile of British people when it comes to ownership of stuff.

So you may be able to imagine my distress on emptying our loft as I witnessed a room fill with unimaginable quantities of stuff: spare microwave, 'O' level geography notes, baby bath (it's at least 15 years since we needed that), a 50 year old suitcase, miscellaneous rolls of carpet, empty boxes retained for re-packaging precious items when next in transit (the items concerned have long gone), a selection of glove puppets, two multi-coloured hat boxes (we don't do hats), a broken sledge, a set of second hand golf clubs that hadn't hit a ball in 10 years....

Thankfully I've deposited a car load at the local recycling centre, and we'll be dropping off another car load at a charity shop. But there remains an obscene quantity of objects that we feel unable to let go, either because it might come in handy', or 'we can't  throw that away'. And the thought or returning these to the loft after the insulation guys have been distresses me further still.

Ian Adams in his book Cave, Refectory, Road reflects on the realistic application of monastic practice to modern life. Considering simplicity, he says of monastic community: 'There is less of almost everything that most of us surround ourselves with - fewer words, fewer images, less stuff - and more of the things that we sense may enhance and re-imagine the experience of human being - more depth, more stillness, more reflection.'

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