“Oh,” she said, raising one eyebrow while laughing, “you can’t think of it that way or you’ll never get through it.”
The woman in question is actually my lovely niece. She was responding to our current downsizing. We had run into each other as Kevin and I were coming out of the liquor store with (yet another!!) load of free boxes. As a joke I listed what we were trying to sort through in order to make our big (or should I say small?) move.
You might think I’d have said enough on this topic. You might, in fact, be secretly hoping that I couldn’t possibly have any more to say on this subject.
But I have been trying to understand why this whole effort seemed to be taking so much time and realized that the simple facts tell the whole story.
So here are just the facts, ma’am, nothing but the facts (you can listen to the proper intonation of those famous words at this link).
The facts then, are these:
- 15 years ago we downsized from a 3800 sq ft house in Mission
- We moved to a 625 sq ft house in Sechelt (with a 600 sq-ft basement)
- We lived in Sechelt for 15 years
- During that time we ripped off the roof, added a second floor, built a myriad of outbuildings and stuffed the basement full of oddments
- 7 years ago, along with another couple, we purchased a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver’s Yaletown. We shared it as our jointly-owned pied-a-terre, and then…
- For 3 of those years we rented out the apartment
- Nearly 2 years ago the renters moved out and we bought out our partners
- We started living in Vancouver more-or-less full time
- Whenever there was something we didn’t know what to do with?
- We drove it over to Sechelt and dumped it there
- Sechelt is now sold (though we still have more time to finish clearing it out)
- The Yaletown apartment is now sold
- We move to our new one-bedroom apartment tomorrow morning
If you add these facts together, you get this:
Collectively we are downsizing from two kitchens, two dining-rooms, two living-rooms, three offices, one guest room/office, one art studio, one guest cottage, one greenhouse, one full basement, three bedrooms, four full bathrooms, a garden full of lawn furniture and a partridge in a pear tree to a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, no-office, teeny living/dining room space, no guest-room 745 sq ft apartment in The Village at False Creek.
But hey! There’s one more fact.
- There’s a 150 sq ft deck.
That should help.
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Sometimes don’t you just think it would be easier to have had your house burn down? Then your wouldn’t have to make any decisions. OF COURSE I don’t want that to have happened to you, but holy cow, this can’t be easy.
And here is a question for you: exactly where/what is “the Sunshine Coast”??
Thank you for sharing your life to this degree – it certainly is making me think.
Jana, I have secretly wished for a lightning strike of epic proportions but then I realized I’d like to have some say in what I keep…so I withdrew that wish! And you’re right, it’s not easy. It’s kind of like we’ve died and get to see all our things being given away without the benefit of a nice funeral 🙂
The Sunshine Coast is a gorgeous stretch of British Columbian Coastline that is aptly named. My girlfriend’s website is the perfect place to see what I’m talking about. Check her site out here @ BigPacific.com
We had a perfect piece of that Coast for ourselves, but alas, it is no more.
In many ways, I feel like I’ve been cut adrift from the safety of that mother ship…and now, well, I guess we’re washing up on a different part of the shore. Not sure what this will look/feel like, but ready to try it.
I know one thing for sure. I love the vibe of our new Vancouver neighbourhood. It’s awash in cyclists, kayakers, walkers and people who clearly want to be out and enjoying their world.
As the delighted recipient of much of your *Sechelt stuff* I am enjoying your downsizing vicariously! With two teens at home, 3 dogs, a cat, 3 businesses, gardens, 1/2 acre of yard chores… we are still on the ascent of collecting. Soon enough we will be downsizing ourselves into something smaller and less onerous for maintenance and I have a shining example to go by. And perhaps someone I know will be over-the-moon happy to have a keepsake or two, as I am to have the two truckloads of swag from you and Kevin.
Directly across from me as I type this is a little avantgarde plant stand with one of your old Underwood typewriters from your famous ‘Chickens Typing’ video sitting atop of it, taking the sting out of your exodus to False Creek (after Roberts Creek, any creek would be false, wouldn’t it?).
Ah Laurie, after Wilson & Roberts Creek, of course, False Creek is, well…false. I get it. I do.
However, I’m so happy to think of my things living on in your world.
Tonight is our last night in Yaletown. The boxes are stacked around me. The little stereo will be the last thing to be unplugged and our new, and much smaller (yet, I hope, larger) life is about to begin.
I have no idea how this will feel, but I’m ready to try it. Who knows what will be next? I know one thing for sure, you won’t get the answer from us! We’re just flying blind and seeing what sticks!
Awesome undertaking Colleen. I wait with bated breath to see the conclusion of your journey.
Me too Mary Ann…I keep reminding myself that people do this every day, so really, how hard can it be? But then I look at the growing pile of boxes and decide it is rather daunting after all 🙂
No, don’t stop talking about this. I find what you’re doing — as I’ve also said before — inspiring and fascinating. Ten years ago we downsized from 2600 sq.ft to our current 1300 sq. ft (both with basements of course), which isn’t as drastic as yours, but I keep trying to hold everything in check and to have three “extra” bedrooms up and down furnished just as guest rooms for family/grandkids, etc., not as store rooms etc. etc. So do go on and on and on as far as I’m concerned!
Dear Dora, be careful what you wish for! Yikes. It’s kind of frightening but I feel like I’m just warming up on the topic!
I keep reminding myself that our goal is to live more and take care of less (stuff).
I’m pretending that this whole process is like writing an article…I am merely ruthlessly editing to get to the essentials 🙂