What really belongs to us anyway?

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

Hubs and I went to an estate sale last weekend. I had never been to one before, so I thought it was pretty cool. I expected a lot of old furniture and knick knacks. I wasn’t disappointed! There was that, and way more!

This guy had some serious crazy hobbies. He was a photographer and amateur entomologist. He had a lot of nice camera equipment and hundreds of images of dragonflies and other insects.  He also had a love for plants, had a nice selection of botany books, and even had a few microscopes so he could examine plant cells.

Downstairs was the best part. He had an impressive work shop that included a wood lathe. There were at least 20 or so model warbirds that he built from kits, all in impeccable shape. The best thing, though, was his book collection. They lined every wall of the large room. There had to be at least a thousand, probably more. Many of them were books on history. Many centered on World War II, but lots of others as well.

I picked up a couple of books on submarine strategies during the Cold War and another one on the birth of the locomotives.  What can I say, I like trains and subs. Hubs got some books on old Japan and the samurai.

OK, so what’s my point?

While he had a lot of “stuff,” it was stuff that made his life really meaningful. I think this is a good thing because some people buy stuff for the status, like designer clothes or the latest iPhone. But once you are gone, you’re gone. All the stuff means nothing.

My hubs has a pretty impressive collection of books, too. Some are rare and worth a few bucks. He ponders on what will happen to them when he dies. Being the supportive wife that I am, I tell him they will eventually get picked over by strangers when our estate goes up for sale. 😜

OK, I don’t say it quite like that, but he understands the truth of it all. Nothing really belongs to us. We have things in our possession for a time, and then it leave us, or we leave it. There’s no point in attachment. Attachment is often the root of our unhappiness.

Now, do I have a few things near and dear to my heart? Of course! I’m not a robot.  The upright bass I recently purchased is the only thing that comes to mind. I have been playing upright for just a few years and had been renting. Since I didn’t get hosed on taxes this year, I felt it was time, and I ended up finding a really neat one.

It was built in the early 1900s in the Czech region. This will mean nothing to most of you, but it is a carved bass with hatpin tuners.  It was originally a blockless, three stringed  instrument. When it was restored, a block was added, and the neck was replaced to accommodate four strings. With all the modifications and the tuners that look a bit like bolts, I named him Frank – short for Frankenstein. He sounds pretty great (when I hit the right notes).

So, the bass is very dear to me, but not because of itself (although the cool history is a bonus). It’s meaningful because the challenge of playing it makes my life better. If something happened to it, I’d get another bass.

I guess I’d miss the $5K it would cost to replace it, though. 😜