Friday, August 21, 2009

Old friends

In a previous life I attended a private girls' school yr 7-9. It was a complete disaster for many reasons, but I kept one friend. We stuck out everything together for about six years, until VCE and a change of address and various other stuff got in the way.

Then facebook intervened. We met up tentatively, wondering if the friendship had died for a reason. Initially motivated by curiosity, we've each rediscovered the similarities that cemented our relationship in the first place, despite very different experiences over the last ten years.

This morning I took a turn driving to the other side of Melbourne. We walked to the local shops and prepared a simple lunch. We talked about her upcoming wedding and I got to share pics of her gown and her bridesmaids' swatches. We're on the same kind of timeline, except she's just about to take her degree into the workforce. Sometimes people change, and that's a good thing. Sometimes they don't change, they just grow.

And I want to live in a house as simple and as uncluttered as hers. Given that we have a collection of Star Wars Lego that makes my students moon around my lounge for hours on end reciting incomprehensible jargon and about two million books that I can't bear to part with, I respect this may be tricky. But also good for me. Time to get rid of the STUFF.

3 comments:

spudballoo said...

I have a constant battle against STUFF. It's Spud v Stuff on a daily basis....I hardly ever get to win, it's so not fair..

Chris Gooch said...

The point of stuff (not materialistic things or gadgets etc but books and antiques and things with memories etc) is not that you need it but that despite the fact you can live without it, you live with it.

I've always felt that the more stuff you have, the richer and more interesting a person is.

Cwybrow said...

You know, that's what Hubs pointed out last night. Our house isn't actually MESSY, and a lot of our STUFF is to do with our hobbies.
In the lounge there's a cello, a harmonium and a flute, plus books of music for all those things. Lego is on every available surface except the coffee table.
In our kitchen/living space there's my sewing machine and sewing stuff, his magic cards, our stereo, portraits a friend drew and framed for us...the bench in the kitchen is home to cards and trinkets gifted by my violin studio...I guess our home is homey and we're both people with many interests.