City Mouse, Country Mouse

The sun is shining brightly through our bay window this morning, and as soon as I write and breakfast is done, we are headed outside. Nothing more crazy than a mom and two little boys, who love the outdoors, cooped up in the house for days because of rain and no backporch to play on; today is my day to totally clean off the backporch here so that my boys can have a place to play when its raining. Gardening will appease us while the sun shines and I feel the butterflies of excitement flutter in the depths of my being as I type this post.
Each time I look at my belongings piled on the porch or have to take the garbage out to the garage and see the stock pile of possessions there, I wonder if I'm truly living up to my sustainable living title. I do purchase second hand or find free stuff when it comes to clothes (mostly my own), books, homeschool supplies & ideas, etc...and yes, I do purchase new. I can't say that I don't. Yet my concern is, with all the "things" waiting for me to clear them away, be it organizing and/or purging, why do I have all these "things?" Is it sustainable to have more than I know what to do with? Wouldn't it be easier to wittle down to essentials and take stock of what's truly important in life? Question, question, who's got the question?
Growing up, I didn't always have alot of "stuff." I didn't wear the latest fashions, the newest rage in toys, and didn't eat the most expensive meals on the market. I wore second hand clothes, usually from family. Toys were gifts, and meals consisted of what we could afford to feed ourselves with. I hated wearing someone else's cast offs, I felt the green monster of jealousy when it came to classmates who had the new toys from the stores, and couldn't stand those nights when we ate the same thing for a couple of days. As I reached adulthood, I formed the mindset that one day, I was going to have everything I didn't have growing up. I went for years, thinking that the more stuff you could possess, the happier you would be. Contrary to popular belief, the one who dies with all the toys doesn't win. I had an epiphany one day. When you wake up one day to a wall of boxes of stuff, piles of stuff, no room to function, no desire to leave the house to be a part of the world, you have become possessed. Possessed by your "stuff." And it takes an exorcist level of a purging to reclaim or come into the happiness of having practically nothing and living like you have plenty.
So, on this day, as I plan my gardens, pray for sunshine to stay around for days, envision my fenced in backyard so my kids & dog can have the freedom of the yard, hope my urban chickens will come by Fall, I realize that the "stuff" I possess is exactly that: STUFF. Stuff doesn't create happiness. Stuff will not be there when you need someone to talk to, stuff will not fill whatever void you may be experiencing. IT'S JUST STUFF.
~Momma