Your life in a banana box

19 December, 10pm, week 51. It is the last night in the apartment I lived in for the last 6 months. The last four days I have been working my ass off at work, then every evening and sometimes even night I have been packing all my belongings and sorting out a lot of stuff. Lots of bags went into the garbage, some of them went to the second hand shop and again other things which were worth keeping and storing for a year went into some banana boxes. Most clothes are brought home. Tomorrow after work I’m flying from Oslo to Brussels with two pieces of luggage weighing around 20-23 kg each and with a hand luggage of around 10 kilos while wearing my nicest suit and hat. Because you can’t put those in a travel bag if you want them to stay nice, right? This morning I carried my first bag of 22 kg to work. When I got there I was soaking-wet and exhausted because it is quite a walk plus getting on and off the tram and train during rush hour is not that easy. How the h*** was I going to do this with another piece of around 20 kg and my hand luggage? That’s +50 kg in total, around 2/3 of my body weight. Let’s just say I did not go to the gym often enough to be able to carry everything at once and make it to the airport alive without a permanent back and/or shoulder injury. It was clear I had to ask for help at work and before I had the chance, a colleague already offered me to drive me all the way to the airport. The day was yet again rescued! When my colleague offered me a ride I felt like I went from climbing mount everest with 100 kg of rocks on my back to walking in the park and pick some flowers.

I am not the kind of person that is very materialistic but I do not like to throw away things if they still can be used. There is already way too much waste in the world. However, cleaning up and sorting out everything you have and then throw more than half of it really feels great! I can recommend everybody to do it; clean up your shit you never use! You will feel relieved, lighter and you will litterally have more space in your life. And having more space means you have more freedom, something everybody needs and must have. Freedom in its turn is the basic and most important ingredient for happiness. It is like rum or cachaca in a mojito, vodka in a cosmopolitan or gin in a martini. Sure you could do it without, but you definitely don’t want to! The result of all this is that my entire life fits in approximately 4 banana boxes and some travel bags, something which could easily go in a medium-sized car. It really puts things into perspective and shows how relative life is.

Now everything, except from some cheese in the fridge:), is packed and ready to go (just going home for christmas, though). Slow but steady I’m starting to realise I am at the end of my first year of my working carreer and at the beginning of something great, uncertain and indescribable (and let’s hope we have some fun along the way as well;). But first, it is time to take a shower and get some sleep. Good night and merry christmas, banana boxes.

 

until I’m poor, I will always be rich. (H. Brusselmans)

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