A life less encumbered …

In last week’s post I compared walking the Camino Trail to our life’s journey.

Both require endurance. Both often necessitate we divest ourselves of the unnecessarily heavy loads we carry. For those walking the Camino it usually means emptying their knapsacks and even leaving sleeping bags behind. In life it can mean getting rid of possessions, walking away from relationships, moving to smaller homes or relocating to different cities. Both also provide us with the opportunity to unload the emotional baggage that tends to bog us down.

I’ve spent the week thinking, on and off, about the changes I’ve made in my life over the years. What I’ve

Day 284. I Remember

My paternal grandmother was an art and antique dealer.  Although as I recall, much of her collecting was done for herself and us, of course.  Her family.  She did do some business, but every time she went out on behalf of a client she would end up adding to her own collections.  Or my parents.  Or mine.  She started putting stuff away for me when I was just a child.

She took me to my first auction when I was about thirteen or fourteen years old.  She taught me how to bid.  And when to back off.  I still have a small painting I got at that auction.  It was a long time ago, but I still remember how excited I was.

It turned out she passed her love of beautiful things on to my father.  And he, in turn, passed it on to me.  In fact, a lot of the time he and I spent together revolved around shopping and collecting and decorating my apartments.

Day 175. Older’s Better

After’s yesterday’s story, about how quickly time seems to pass as you get older, I thought I’d explore the benefits of aging, today.  How’s that for a positive statement?  The benefits of aging.

I know.  You think I’ve gone mad.  Well, prepare to be surprised.

Think about it for a minute.  Ours may be a youth-centric culture, but not everything around us is.

Many wines mature and become better over time.  And more valuable.  The longer you age cheese, the better it tastes.  In fact some cheeses are aged for as long as three hundred years.  Imagine.

Art and artifacts and furniture are worth more with each passing year.  In fact, the more ‘worn’ they are, the more the paint is peeling, the more scratched and shabby they all are, the more we covet them; and the more we’re willing to pay.  If Van Gogh and Michelangelo and Monet and Modigliani and every other artist and artisan of yore, had even a clue how much money their work fetched nowadays, they’d never believe it.

What about vintage cars.  Collectors pay outrageous amounts of money for them, despite the fact you can barely