The Zen of the Packout

Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama

There's a certain degree of finality watching the truck containing your stuff leave the curb. If all goes well, the stuff will be next seen on "the island".  Our attachment to it tells us that where our stuff goes, we must surely follow.  Our stuff seems to run a good portion of our lives.

The much-anticipated Packout Day was yesterday.  In the few months we had lived in the DC area, we managed to accumulate more than a few things that may be useful over the next 2 years.  Having a Costco just down the street was both a blessing and a curse.  (Will we really eat THAT MUCH peanut butter?)  Then there was the stuff of dreams:  the beach towels, beach chairs, beach umbrellas, snorkels, fins (see the theme here . . .)  And no matter how much information one has about the island, do you ever really know if the stores will carry your particular favorite dentifrice, soap or shampoo, so why not stock up?
One great lesson we learned from our class on moving overseas (yes, there's a class on that) was to pre-pack the suitcases, with passports, tickets, and important papers and then to set all of that into an off-limits room (bathroom or closet) to avoid unpleasant surprises after the moving van has gone.  Done.  I checked and re-checked to make sure we still had the tickets, passports, shot records, and dog health certificates. 

Once the stuff is gone, an amazing lightness of being befalls.  Shelly and I look at each other in our corporate furnished apartment:  there is no more shopping, no more acquiring, no more worries that we missed getting something.  This may be the zen of packing out.  The thought occurs.  What if that crate fell into the ocean, never to be seen again?  Would we miss the stuff?  How attached am I to this stuff? What about the stuff we packed up from Albuquerque 5 months ago?  Sitting in some warehouse somewhere.  Have we survived nicely without it?   

Found a nice webpage on Zen and attachment to think through this.  See it here.  Some thoughts from the Zen/web master:

Call yourself out. Learn what it looks like to grasp at people, things, or circumstances so you can redirect your thoughts when they veer toward attachment. When you dwell on keeping, controlling, manipulating, or losing something instead of simply experiencing it.
Define yourself in fluid terms. We are all constantly evolving and growing. Define yourself in terms that can withstand change. Defining yourself by possessions, roles, and relationships breeds attachment because loss entails losing not just what you have, but also who you are.
John Stewart ends his Daily Show with what he calls "your moment of zen".  This was mine today.  So to Carlos and the crew from JK Moving:  thanks for bringing me to the edge of enlightenment . . . but don't lose my stuff!