Finally! It has arrived ...

Scottie!

And I don't mean our container.

I've finally come down with a blasted cold, cough and sore throat. Obligatory for winter, I was just hoping not in California! (Yes, that is a FIRE)

But I will take it that the stress of moving has come home to roost and I am to take it easy given the mountain of boxes I am snowed under. Literally. Snowed. Under. So many boxes and papers all round that one literally cannot breathe.

So, rewind a second.

First day! 

For those haven't heard, we finally found a place to live and got our keys last week. Dylan also started school last week and last week (which is a very popular week in my book) we were told THE (read: our) container will arrive on Monday. Excited and totally overwhelmed with new house new school new MUMS (oh god forbid) and new school lunches to deal with, all of which are super important, H tells me that he is out most of this week for conferences, dinners and visitors from the UK whom he will be eating and hobnobbing with, reminiscing about the good old times. So, in other words, having lots of fun while I unpack. (A tad bit unfair I admit but feels like it! So who's going to visit me from the UK so I can get out of unpacking?)

It has arrived!

What I wasn't quite ready for was the overwhelm of boxes and wrapping paper that came with it. We didn't even have that much stuff! If anyone has seen our house in London (which most of you would have), it isn't big. I dread to think what anyone with 4 bedrooms, a second lounge, a garden bigger than our patch of shed, a conservatory and a loft would be transporting! But here we are moving our tiny house and me standing in my new house with just boxes and boxes of stuff. And they keep bringing more. Oh Gawd.

My first thought was what have I done?

My second thought was to reduce more of my stuff.

And my third thought was no more moving, guys.

I unpack, and I unpack. I haven't unpacked so much since, well, my last move 8 years ago. The paper mounds up and I get more horrified. Three sheets of packing paper for ONE CUP? Surely it does not warrant THREE sheets of paper to protect it! Protect it from what? Savage mountain lions? (which there are by the way, in the nearby nature reserve. That and coyotes. I have the sign to prove it.)

Box Overwhelm!

Day 4 and I am now with my feet up while I nurse this cold and shamelessly relax. I cleared the living area of boxes so all that confronts me is the internet box stuck in a jungle of wires in a corner and a lamp stand with no lamp shade because I cannot work it out. The solitary lamp shade languishes in a corner. I drink tea out of mugs with cute dogs on it.

Recently, we went to the planetarium down at the Tech Museum (San Jose, fascinating place, thanks Cindy G L for recommending!) and it was all about the Blue Planet (Earth by the way) and how we were just destroying it with our excessive consumption and flagrant disregard (and disrespect) for life and conservation.

And then I look at my one cup wrapped in countless sheets of paper. And I have 117 boxes full of one cups wrapped in countless sheets of paper.

And so my new year resolution is to reduce my stuff. Even more. For those who know me will know I hate shopping. My child and my husband? A different matter. But I hate shopping. I recently found the library near D's dance class so I can walk there while he dances so even buying books are out of the question unless it is a special occasion. I hate stuff. And whilst I can self congratulate myself on having less stuff than most people, I'd say it is still too much stuff.

I might sound preachy but it scares me that we consume at a rate faster than the earth can rejuvenate. I am currently reading a book called Reason in a Dark Time by Dale Jamieson and the statistics are scary - 20% of the earth's population (developed countries) produce 70% of the world's carbon dioxide. Not to mention all the other awful gases like methane that we haven't measured. The politics and economics of it all is fascinating, as this book relates, but put simply one cup does not require three sheets of paper to protect it. What are we doing, consuming so much? What are we doing, producing so much, all for profit? And can we cut it back? According to this book, one person's actions can make a difference (if you are thinking like I was thinking, little ole me ain't gonna do anything worthwhile)

I don't know what the answer is. I am guilty too but surely there must be a better way to be citizens of this Earth, not just fight for our own hoards of stuff and think that we are ok simply because we increase our territory size. Surely, it must be more conscious, calculated decisions we can make, knowing that having all this stuff doesn't make one happier. That happiness comes from within and being grateful for what we have. And to stop accumulating. (Personally, I don't know anyone who needs a yacht, or a boat ... unless you are fishermen)

I know I know. Sounds like a whole load of sentimental drivel. And preachy too. I get it. But as Christmas comes round the corner, we see signs that say, a puppy is for 15+ years, not just for Christmas. That applies to all our stuff too. Plastic doesn't go away. Stuff doesn't go away. Just because you give it away (and it becomes someone else's problem) doesn't mean it goes away. Most of the time it lands in landfill.

All I am saying is, we live on a wonderful planet, carefully balanced, beautiful and amazing. Anyone who has done primary school science will know, the eco-system is a wonderful thing and how nature works is a miracle, whether you believe in God or not. With all of our medical and science advances, we still don't understand it all. In fact, we understand only a fraction.

Not even full!

We can all do something to help reduce waste, and stop landfills filling up with stuff that we don't need. If you ever give a kid a plastic toy, you'll know how much we don't need stuff. They simply throw it away after two seconds and that's that, in fact the cardboard box is more fascinating!

Like I said, I am guilty of it too. I just thought I'd share my thoughts as I unpack my house with its countless boxes and wrapping paper just to keep that one cup safe from the mountain lions. And next time I move? No more moving man. I'm doing this myself.

Buy less. Buy second hand. No shame in that.

Ok, back to unpacking my 117 boxes!

Lots of love
from a rainy California today xoxo

PS: California has been gripped in a drought for the last five years. Forest fires happen every year ruining people's lives (and stuff). The reservoirs are drying out and if things continue, scientists predict that California could turn into a desert. All because of global warming and too much CO2 in the atmosphere. I'm glad it's raining today.