Marie Clare Magazine (& other inspiration)

Last weekend I had a moment of enlightenment while reading a 2004 Marie Clare magazine. The issue I picked up (while having brunch with a friend) ran a story about an American guy who had sold everything he owned. It was a kind of social experiment. He put all of his possessions for auction over the internet- down to the glasses on his face and the mouthwash in his bathroom. Then, he contacted the people who had bought his stuff. He went into their homes, did interviews, took photos and celebrated this new connection he had forged with people who had just bought a piece of his life.

Interesting… I’d just heard another tale maybe an hour before about an unnamed man who discovered treasure hidden in a field. He buried it again and then went away to sell everything he owned in order to buy that field- and gain the treasure also. The story goes that he was excited as he sold his stuff, for he knew he was about to gain something far more valuable.

Two nights before that, I heard another parable (or at least the start of it). Some friends and I had gathered to eat, drink and read aloud the story of a Nobody named Ordinary who was following his Big Dream. This required Ordinary to leave his hometown called Familiar. So, he packed a suitcase with The Usuals and started out. I remember the part in the story where Ordinary wonders whether lugging the suitcase has become an unnecessary burden. He decides to repack. Ordinary takes a few essentials, ties them in bundles and sets out again, whistling the tune he had never heard before.

For me, it wasn’t until the Marie Clare version of the story that my decision was confirmed, “I want to be in on this risky adventure too!” With excitement, with joy, I want to leave behind the Stuff that hinders. I want the Big Dream. I want the hidden treasure. And I want a crank’n good story to tell at the end of it all.