Can a Person be a Sellaholic?

I have a new addiction.  The good thing about my addictions is at least they are healthy.  Well I guess I should say that I like to keep them in a healthy range, because any addiction can get out of control even eating squash.  I am sure a good number of people question my level of squash eating as healthy, but they are the crazy ones!  ;) Spoken like a true addict, right?  Anyway, I have gotten into selling on ebay and I have noticed that there is a bit of an exhilaration that comes when you get an email telling you that your item sold.  It doesn’t matter if it was only sold for $1.99.  The point is that someone wanted your stuff.  Someone found value in something that you had no use for and could just be ready to toss. 

I have been feeling for a while that I have way more stuff than I have use of and it is all just cluttering up my life. It makes me feel bogged down like I never want to move anywhere because it would just be too much work. I am sure that this hording (and I am not a crazy horder like the ones on TV by the way) I have done just comes from not having much when I was younger. It made me want to collect more and more things in case I ever needed them for any situation.  

Just in the last two weeks I have sold 10 items and made over $240. I have bids on three more things that will sell within the next week.   I have also posted some larger items on KSL and sold two things there.  This is even going to change how I buy things now. I am going to have to ask myself, “Is this a good investment? Will I be able to sell this later for a good price?” Hopefully the sales will continue to happen and I will feel more and more free from all of my stuff. 

Christmas 2013

Last year’s Christmas was probably the worst Christmas ever, and I have had some bad ones.  My brother’s family had the stomach flu so dinner was canceled and then my gifts were stolen off my front porch the day before Christmas.  My roommate was out of town and I was feeling very alone. This year I guess I had low expectations and that is a good thing because Christmas dinner was canceled again.  Let’s just say that a break-up in the family got in the way.  For some reason it didn’t bother me as much this year.

There was a gal who spoke at church last Sunday and she talked about how when she was in Jr. High her parents decided that they were not going to celebrate Christmas anymore.  No presents, no tree no nothing.  She never knew why but the season just left her with bad feelings for a long time until she realized that Christmas wasn’t about her.  It was about Christ and becoming the kind of person that emulated Christ’s life.  She said in the end she probably should have thanked her parents because they helped her learn more about the true meaning of Christmas.  Perhaps her talk prepared me to not think of myself and my problems this year.   I did have a good time at Temple Square with Marianne on Christmas Eve and I got some pictures for next year’s Christmas card.   Here are some of the highlights…

Gypsy Itch

Uh Oh... I am starting to get that feeling again that something in my life needs to change.  I have had this feeling before and it usually entails me moving across the country.  It doesn’t help that I have just come back to dreary, dry, cold, smoggy Utah

from gorgeous, lush, warm Hawaii. 

I have made a list of all the reasons that Hawaii is calling my name. 

1.       The temperature is moderately warm every day of the year.

2.       The humidity and salt water do amazing things for my skin.

3.       The fresh oxygen packed air is great for my overall health.

4.       I love the rocking of the waves.

5.       I am ready for a new adventure.

6.       I could go running every day and not be cold.

7.       I could learn to surf and be really tan.

8.       My skin would get plenty of vitamin D and I would never have seasonal affective disorder.

9.       I could ride a bike or a scooter to work.

10.   They grow avocados there.

I do have a good list of reasons not to move too but it just doesn’t seem as compelling right now.

1.       I would have to sell my place.

2.       I would be further away from family and friends.

3.       I would be giving up my stable job that I have been at over 7 years along with some pension benefits.

4.       I have a lot of stuff.

5.       The cost of living is high.

6.       Not sure what my social life would be like in the LDS community over there.

Well even if it does ever happen, I have a hard time believing that it will happen any time soon.  I have been feeling that I needed to get rid of stuff for a while, so this will just give me added motivation to keep doing it.