Looking at the photos above you might think I had a garage sale today– and if you did, you’d be wrong (though I probably could have). This pile of stuff was all in the trunk of my car. And this is just the stuff that didn’t immediately go into a garbage bag.
I cleaned out my trunk today while I was waiting for AAA to come for the third time in about two weeks. (For the sake of keeping this blog fun, I won’t comment further on my experience with AAA.) I figured that if I ended up not getting the car fixed, it would be easier to clean it out in my garage than in a repair shop parking lot. And let me tell you– I knew my trunk was cluttered, but I had no idea the time capsule I was cracking open.
Perhaps most entertaining were the 11 pairs of shoes. Among them: the Uggs I wore during college, a pair of black dress boots I purchased when moving to my first TV job in snow-covered Erie from Southern California, a pair of flip flips I purchased on a cruise after the ones I was wearing broke, a pair of tennis shoes with melted rubber toes from sitting too close to a campfire and a pair of snow boots so old that the rubber was literally melted into a new shape that would prohibit a foot from fitting inside. Oh– and let’s not forget the black dress shoes. They were SO cool when I bought them– in high school.
Also found? 5 umbrellas– two fold-ups, three full-size. Two of the three full-size umbrellas dated back to my first TV job. 7 snow scrapers. Including one that I’m pretty sure was in the car I drove in high school. 2 GPS units (do they even make these anymore??). A 2005 Atlas– purchased before one of our multiple cross-country road trips to and from USC (and also before those 2 GPS units). A coffee mug I’m pretty sure belonged to an ex-boyfriend. My tennis racquet from when I played in high school. An unopened bottle of Vitamin E that I apparently felt compelled to take for some unknown reason sometime long before 2012– because that’s when it EXPIRED. A poppy that I apparently received in exchange for a donation on a day when I was feeling extra charitable. And perhaps most cringe-worthy– the case from a pair of sunglasses I purchased almost exactly ten years ago. How do I know the date, you ask? I bought them on my last shopping trip before leaving Erie– and the sunglasses are still in my work bag today. Pretty much all of this stuff is now in the dumpster behind my house. Remnants of the last more than decade of my life– that for one reason or another I deemed valuable enough to stow in my trunk.
This trunk-cleaning is ironic given a conversation I had earlier this week at Wrigley Field, where I struck up a conversation with a security guard who was a proud and enthusiastic minimalist. He had been working at it for years and had recently made a breakthrough. I’ve always been perplexed by the concept of minimalism, so I asked a lot of questions. Bottom line– it makes him feel free. Not gonna lie, my clean (empty!!) trunk makes me feel pretty stinking good– but going through the stuff in it was a trip down memory lane. A reminder of where I’ve been– and where I am. Cringeworthy, but fun.
One last item I found was a birthday present I purchased for a good friend before moving to Chicago. It was wrapped with bow on top. And I had apparently put some thought into it because the card wasn’t the 99-cent variety I now routinely pick up at Target. The gift, however– a scarf and earrings from Francesca’s– was telling of the time in my life when it was purchased. (The earrings went out of style years ago). I guess I thought I would get to Chicago and mail it to her. Needless to say, that never happened. The contrast of the person who buys (and wraps!!) birthday presents for their friends and the person I am today is stark. I’m grateful for the reminder… and hopeful to be that person again someday.
Trina Orlando 