At the beginning of the week, I wondered how I was going to get my belongings condensed one last time.  I had one checked bag, one carry-on bag and two computer cases.  That is one piece too many for my airline.  Knowing I was flying out of Seattle on Friday, I dreaded the moment where I would have to figure out what to leave behind.  Finally last night, I faced it. I almost allowed myself to justify the $35 for an extra bag and then I remembered all the lessons I have learned over the last few months of culling.  I knew there was something in those bags that I didn’t really need.

So I went back to my hotel after a wonderful meal of burritos of complete with homemade tortillas and amazing refried beans (thanks Michelle) and the company of some of the best teachers in eastern Washington and I took everything out of the cases and spread it out on the floor. With each item, I asked myself the same question I asked weeks early when I was moving out of my apartment: Is this item worth taking up the space in one of the 3 remaining cases I was allowing myself?  At the end of two hours, I had one checked bag, one carry-on bag, and one computer case.  I donated a final bag to the Goodwill this morning.

And then, an amazing thing happened this morning.  I woke up, looked at those three cases, realized that by the end of today those cases and myself would all I would have to worry about.  By the end of the day, I will be homeless, carless, and on a plane to the east coast.  Three bags and me. That is it. Do you know what it felt like?  It felt like freedom.

One day, at the beginning of this, just after I had made the decision to give up all my things and reboot my life, I was stressing over everything.  Matt said to me, “Robin you are going to feel better really soon.  All that stuff is weighing you down.”  I have to admit, I didn’t believe him or any of the other people that told me that.  Now suddenly, all the things I have been stressing over aren’t making me anxious anymore.  I know that it is all going to work out. If I don’t have something I need, I realize that I can make do with what I have, even if it isn’t as convenient. What I have is enough.  I am enough.

It sometimes seems like my whole life has been preparing me for this moment.

When I think of it that way, I realize I can’t have any regrets of the difficulties and challenges that have brought me to this place, because I couldn’t be doing this without going through each one of those challenges.  And what I am doing is really amazing.  Amazing, exciting, and wonderful.  I have the best life ever.

I know that there will be challenges over the next year.  I am not thinking everything will be sunshine and roses.  But those new challenges of the next year will lay the groundwork for the next exciting lesson I will learn that will lead me to the next adventure of my life. And in each one of those adventures, there is a story.  Ultimately, just like a quilt, it is a collection stories woven together that make up our lives.

Right now, my life consists of three bags and me.