My parents had a giant barn with a huge hayloft, and no farm animals. The space was enormous – big, cavernous, lovely storage space. My grandparents had built the house and barn in 1914, my parents moved in 1948. No one ever threw anything out. This is problematic when you are the third generation of savers.
In the barn hayloft you could find a rodent-chewed side saddle from the early 1900s, a broken electric mixer from the 1950s, a cherry tree stump, a homemade portable outhouse from a Girl Scout camping trip in the 1960s. I felt like a treasure hunter every time I went up there. If you dug around long enough you were sure to find something interesting.
However, with several lifetimes of saving habits, there is a down side. My husband and I moved out of our apartment in Maine and moved to a cabin in the woods in New Hampshire. We needed somewhere to store most of our household stuff. Of course, my parents had plenty of room in the barn hayloft. We filled a medium sized UHaul truck and brought it to my parents’ home.
There I discovered that all available floor space was piled high with empty cardboard boxes! These were saved for “just in case.” There were boxes in every possible size and shape. We found ourselves in the absurd position of having to move empty boxes in order to store our household goods. Suffice it to say that today I am not a big fan of storing boxes.
Next month, The River Center is moving to 9 Vose Farm Road in Peterborough. We are consolidating ourselves from two buildings with plenty of storage into an efficient, beautiful office space with 2,400 square feet. This makes us think about what we use, what we need, and what is important.
We must be intentional. Books, files, office supplies, all are looked at with a critical eye. We want to be thoughtful about what we take with us. Do we need to take three boxes of envelopes with another? A full dumpster is a beautiful thing.
Reviewing what we have accumulated, assessing what we need going forward and deciding what we can get rid of is a healthy process. We do this in our lives is as well as our businesses and organizations.
What things from the past do I need to discard, what do I treasure and keep, what new possibilities can I incorporate in my life?
The River Center Board is developing our new strategic plan for the next three years. We are assessing what we have, what we need going forward and what clutter we need to remove.
We are solidly keeping our mission to serve the Eastern Monadnock Region by providing community connections, parenting support, job search skills, tax and money coaching.
We are excited to move to a new space that will enhance that mission goal. We will miss our home at 46 Concord, but will gladly leave building maintenance worries to our new landlord.
Spring cleaning enables us to dust off our treasures, remove the unnecessary and make room for the new. The River Center is packing up our treasures, removing the clutter and making room for new opportunities and our new future at 9 Vose Farm Road. We want all of you to visit.
As soon as we are settled we have you all over to celebrate with us. Stay tuned.
Margaret Nelson is executive director of the River Center Family and Community Resource Center.