You Can’t Take It With You It’s Just Stuff

What happened to my sister’s things that she accumulated?  They were given away or donated to Goodwill.  The things she once found joy in meant nothing in the end.  It was just stuff.

What happened to my Dad’s collections he curated or rather hoarded when he passed?  They were sorted and trashed and divided, sold and donated.  Both my sister and my dad’s possessions met the same fate.  It was just stuff.

Of course there were a few things that brought back memories or were items that will be passed on to family and future generations hopefully.

I however, hoarded all their things that were in my possession again scared that if I let one thing leave my house then their memory would slowly piece by piece go along with the stuff.

It wasn’t until I visited Dallas Contemporary Museum to view the Bruce Weber exhibit did I find the truth.  Their were three artists exhibits going on.  One artists was Laercio Redondo.  Redondo’s exhibit “The Glass House” caught my attention.  It was a mixed media piece, a film that was looping.  

The film follows two separate visits to the house.  They say art is in the eye of the beholder so this may not be what the artist intended to be interpreted at all.  To me,  it showed  what meaning our things have once we are gone.  One soon after the architect passes and 10 years later when the house in under restoration. all her items are still in the house since they are turning it to a museum.  The first visit, it was her things.  Her curated style and collections.

The second visit, it was just stuff. The same feeling was absent after time.  

In that moment it was clear to me.  It’s just stuff.  Stuff has no meaning, memories have meaning and are what you leave behind for loved ones.