Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn
Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn
The Emotional Toll of Emptying Your Storage Unit
Besties Angella and Leslie wonder why they hold on to things they don’t actually need. All the ‘stuff’ that fills their homes, their closets and too often their expensive storage units. Angella describes her painful experience with downsizing and ultimately losing items that once anchored her and her family. Leslie, on the other hand, is at the beginning of that very journey - trying to navigate moving about in multiple locations while also saying goodbye to a larger more accommodating home. They speak of the emotional toil created by the over abundance of physical possessions and how it often gives rise to a mental heaviness and unease.
As usual, the Besties weave a poignant conversation with a humorous one as they consider a “Marie Kondo” style purge to tackle the clutter they’ve accumulated over the years. They describe resisting thrift store temptations and the reality check of necessary financial restraint. They resolve to clear the physical and mental clutter that bogs them down and look forward in the next episode to a deeper examination of the psychology of consumerism, accumulation and collecting and why they find it so difficult to live a more minimalist existence.
They really did Angi very wrong! Bolton Estate Cleanout & Sales
The Afrominimalist's Guide to Living With Less by Christine Platt
ExodUS Summit 2025 - The Path Abroad for Black Women
Glamazini: How I plan my year
This episode and all previous episodes are available on YouTube. Please join our Besties Quad Squad as a Patreon subscriber at the $5 or $10 monthly level. You'll receive exclusive behind-the-scenes content.
Get Angie’s eBook: We’re Too Old for This Shit! The Inquisitive Older Woman’s Guide to Joy
Visit Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn website for behind-the-scenes extras.
Yeah, we didn't even clap. Oh, hold on, let me start Audacity.
Speaker 2:But we're not recording for the thing yet. You still want to start Audacity? I thought we were just bantering.
Speaker 1:No, I want that too I want the bantering to be a part of what we banter.
Speaker 2:I'm recording starting. I'm Audacity. Okay, all right, I'm recording starting in audacity okay so I love where you are right now should we clap?
Speaker 1:we don't need to clap, I'm so wired. I don't want to break this because then I'll forget. You know, when we get back to okay, one, two, three, this, because then I'll forget you know when we get back to regular day.
Speaker 2:Okay, One, two, three.
Speaker 1:Hey Ange, hey Les, how you doing. You already have me cracking up. You're so funny, I know it's so funny because you wanted us to.
Speaker 2:You wanted to capture some banter and it's like people don't want to hear bestie banter 're sitting here talking about. She her on my id badge I'm talking about. Did you know that there was a chemical in a pool, that in a public pool, that if you pee you get like this cloud of blue around you?
Speaker 1:I don't know what made me think of that, but hopefully you didn't find out by being a victim of the cloud of booze.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm glad I knew it ahead of time, because I'm regularly peeing pools. Who doesn't?
Speaker 1:But you have your own. Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn. I'm Angella and the peer is Leslie. That is my best friend of almost 50 years, leslie. We are two intellectually curious older Black women and we invite you to just join us along our journey of discovery of self, of others, of just interesting stuff, and things that make us happy, make us angry, make us want to be changed in the world. So we are so glad to have you here today. This is our post Thanksgiving conversation, and we had some glitches with our members of our team getting back into the position of work, and so this episode is going to not have all the glitz, but it's going to be great. There's going to be no editing, so you get all of the things. So, lads, before I continue, what do you want to ask?
Speaker 2:the people. So I think you all want to be some regular subscribers to Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn, so I would love it if you pressed, like and subscribe, tell your friends, turn on notifications, because we drop content regularly, and I think you'll be glad you did and we love to get feedback and write people and get ideas. So join the family, become an honorary Bestie, press, like and subscribe right now and leave comments liberally.
Speaker 1:Leave comments, all right. So yeah, so we're talking about peeing in pools. We're talking about Leslie mentioned that. She just heard that another thing that may identify someone as being too liberal, too inclusive, too Black, too other too, whatever Another thing to add is whether they put their pronouns in their Zoom, on their Zoom stuff or on their LinkedIn and so on ID badge or resume or things like that, Go ahead.
Speaker 2:I've heard from someone who is in the position of employing employment that that can be problematic because what they want is just a widget, a regular degular employer they don't want necessarily. Many people don't want people who have opinions or who may not have told a party line. So that was told to me as just an advice if I were looking for employment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so for those same people. Leslie would have to change the color of her skin, change her hair, maybe not change her name, but your last name would have to be changed that would have to be yeah, yeah, I would have to become Joan Thomas, right, right.
Speaker 1:Leslie. Right, leslie, so take off the she, her change. Just become an AI version of yourself, but not looking anything like you and not having any thoughts of inclusivity, and then you'll be set. You'll be all set. Listen, my eyes itching here. So neither of us are back home, home, home for post Thanksgiving. So I am speaking to you from my sister's office at a university.
Speaker 2:And I just think that is so cool. When you said that you were at her office, I thought that you were at home in her home office and I'm like, look at the lock on that door and I'm like that is a very spacious, there's some desks sets up and it's like you are at the university, the real professor's office. How cool is that.
Speaker 1:Yep Got her, you know, looking very just just. This is anyway I like it and I have like about eight books using to stack up my, to stack my, my laptop here, and so so that's where, oh, and, and today is the last day of class here.
Speaker 1:So she's teaching her final class for the semester then it's exams, and so we're going to talk about like one of the main topics that we're going to talk about today is what happened to me when I is why I feel like a cloud of loss when I sold my house and what happened to my belongings that were in my house.
Speaker 1:And that was two years ago, almost three years ago that I sold my house and most of my belongings had been in storage. I kind of had made some decisions about the things that I would need for the next year or two and had those in short-term storage, and then the bulk of my things I would say 85, 90% was in long-term storage, and then those things are now no longer in my possession. I'll talk to you about what happened and how I very often feel this sense of loss, the sense of not feeling grounded, because I will kind of be in my apartment and I'll, you know, look for something or oh, I have that, and then I don't, because it was among the things that are now no longer mine and I it's even come up in therapy a few times because um, I was really wronged in the process and we'll go into all the details.
Speaker 1:But I was talking to my sister, you know we we were together for Thanksgiving and um, I was telling her some of this how I was feeling, and um, she was like, oh you, have you talked about that on your podcast? I'm like no, I think maybe I was kind of processing it before I could really talk about it. But then in the process of doing that, I know that it kind of became, eh, but that was just my experience. Nobody else, you know, needs to. No one else would might get value out of it. And she convinced me that that is not true, that other people may have had similar experiences. And so I was like, yeah, what she's going through now and making right.
Speaker 1:And then the book that you guys know I got for her Afro minimalism. I know she's been reading it, so I wanted her to talk about the book and how it may be helping her or not yet yeah. Around making those decisions. So that's going to be the bulk of what we're talking about today, and then we'll throw in things like peeing in the pool and you know all the things as we move along.
Speaker 2:So it's funny how our lives run in tandem. Sometime because I've talked about it many times over the last year or more I've moved, I've downsized, I have several different places where I lay my head and not only is it confusing, but I have stuff in many different places and I have too much stuff. So I have been looking at you for advice on downsizing. I determined I really need to get rid of about 50% of the things that I own.
Speaker 1:Leslie's 50% is the things that I own. So that means if I Leslie's 50% is like my 90%, I'm not doing the extreme version no no, no, I'm saying 50% of your things.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess I have more stuff. You're dense more densely packed.
Speaker 2:I'm more densely packed, and the thing is that what that means for me and this is how I've had to had to see things is that if I'm holding two objects, one has to go. Yeah, and it's very difficult yes it's very difficult and I say that I am going to get to it and get to it. So I put most of my things in storage right now and then I'll get to it. I suspect I won't, though.
Speaker 1:Storage will get to you yeah.
Speaker 2:It's already occurring and it's necessary and it's expensive. It is expensive it can be expensive.
Speaker 1:Yes indeed.
Speaker 2:So decisions have to be made, right, but I know and I've said this to you I cannot make the decision on my own. I need a second pair. I told you I need you to come up and really just go through things. And this is going you know, the Marie Kondo style, yeah sure. Gotta go, gotta know Marie Kondo style. Yeah, sure, Got to go, got to go, got to go. It's way easier for me to identify that for other people than for myself, so I think the same would work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, les, I saw on, glamzini had a post I will tag it for you and she described how she lays out her year and I didn't have the chance to listen to all of it at the time but I will go back.
Speaker 1:But you saw that she had post-its, you know the bigger ones with the lines line paperuary through december, one month on each paper laid out. And I thought about that because I think you and I really need to put that on a month, like when that's going to happen, so that, um, because, like um, throughout the end of this year going into next year, I'm planning out my year because there's going to be travel in it and because I need to start putting things, um, um onto some, even if they're tentative dates, so that things don't bump into each other. Right, so I have to put my house sits on dates I have to, you know, so that I can start booking flights. So I don't wait until the last minute, which is what I tend to do, because I hate doing that stuff. So I would love to put, when I'm committing to you to do your at least round, one of your, what are we going to call it? Sure, the Purge.
Speaker 2:The Purge, the PG version, you know, not the horror film, but let's call it the Purge. You know, here's the similarity things will be going, but there will be no police involved with the, with the purge. There's no police anyway it's a law enforcement free day or something like. I can't watch it. I don't watch stuff like that, but that's what I heard. It's like mayhem. So if you open up my storage bin, it will be mayhem.
Speaker 1:And here's the good thing for me, why it's not going to become. It leaves, Leslie, it comes to me because I have shut that down. I thank you for the box that you sent me, Les. I probably half of it I'll be giving away, but I know you you got it, Okay.
Speaker 2:I love that yes.
Speaker 1:Let's bless somebody else. That's right. But even while I've been in Jersey well, I was in Jersey before I came to Virginia. Right in front of me, I had a decision Are you going to go for a walk or are you going to go thrifting? And you did, I went for the walk.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:You know, I am transformed, that's really good. A family thrifting day.
Speaker 2:I mean you know how much we enjoy thrifting. I mean we've had podcast episodes about our thrifting day. I mean you know how much we enjoy thrifting. I mean we've had podcast episodes about our thrifting episodes. I love a good thrift.
Speaker 1:I love a good thrift. But guess what? I'd done a little shopping for some winter things before Thanksgiving and I said I don't need a damn thing when my um color coordinated hangers are full in my closet no, I'm not buying you hangers. Yeah, I am that good.
Speaker 2:Let the hangers be the guide. That's good. That's a good barometer yes, let the hangers.
Speaker 1:I have, like the um, I kind of cheated a little bit because I my hangers kind of have to match. I agree.
Speaker 2:It's just a thing, no doubt.
Speaker 1:And, but I had some of the felty ones.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I had some just the plastic ones that were similar color. So sometimes there's like four of the plastic ones that I'd already kicked out and put into my closet, but I see that they're back and they're consistently filled with stuff. So, I've been creeping.
Speaker 2:And I said no more. But at least you stopped yourself, and that's good, because you're really moving your body more. So that's also in alignment with some of the goals that you set for yourself.
Speaker 1:I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. Thank you, little by little, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, I kind of made a similar decision.
Speaker 1:Yep Decision.
Speaker 2:But it wasn't born out of willpower. I'll be transparent right now. Right now, I'm out of work. Right now, for the first time in my adult life, I have no income. Wow.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, at least for the, for the next voluntarily voluntarily.
Speaker 2:Right, right, okay and um, when my first pay period came back, goose eggs.
Speaker 1:I said guess what?
Speaker 2:I am not going to that winter market fair sales that I was planning to go to. You know where there was, I think, 110 vendors and you know, going through and looking at all the wares and trinkets, this would be like my. I could spend days there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just going through the stuff and like an Etsy in person, Right. But my friend said you ready to go. I said I'm not going nowhere, Going where?
Speaker 1:But Les, isn't it true? I am not.
Speaker 2:Because the idea for me of one you know I don't need any, but that wasn't my motivation. Right now it's like I don't have spare cash Right, and that's where you know I said you know what? Nope, because I wouldn't be able to resist.
Speaker 1:And I would say I would pick up cute things at any time that a high percentage of the things in your closet that still have tags have those artisan tags. Don't out me, don't out me Beautiful.
Speaker 2:But it's so funny that you say that Let me just move for a second. But it's so funny that you say that Let me just move for a second.
Speaker 1:I don't know you, leslie, I don't know you. How do I know you. I don't know you. What are you?
Speaker 2:I think you're a plant, or else you must have just seen what I just this beautiful silk. I'm not going to show too much of it because it's turning into a gift, but I spent quite a pretty penny on this lovely. I don't even know what it is, but it's now going to be a beautiful. The tag is still on it. I've never worn it and guess what?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's one of the 50% of things that is going. It will bless someone. I know she'll love it and so, yeah, it got to go.
Speaker 1:That's going to be. Another category of sorting for you is gift giving, and and then maybe we can even do a sub sort of that who to whom, and so on. So that's, that's perfect, that's perfect. That's going to be good. That's going to be good.
Speaker 2:And then there's a whole clothing, you know category that doesn't fit anymore and that I need tailoring, you know, and it's like, yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot, you know, and it's the emotional part of it. So why don't you start talking a little bit about your experience, Because it's deep.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's. I'm kind of it kind of crept up on me. As a matter of fact, I didn't think that. I thought that the relief of not having those things anymore and not paying, you know, almost $500 a month for storage, because I was in a five-bedroom house that my parents lived in on and off that my children and I lived in for almost 20 years Basement not basement, but attic and it came from our even larger house in New Jersey. So the stuff that was in the attic a lot of it had never been.
Speaker 2:Never made it to the main living space.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so I felt like the not having those things would be the bigger kind of emotion and I would feel the the weight of the things not being there would overwhelmingly been the more positive emotion and not the you mean the lack of clutter and the space and stuff.
Speaker 2:Is that what you're talking about? What do you mean? I?
Speaker 1:mean not having the expense.
Speaker 2:Oh, getting rid of that storage requirement, right, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that to me was kind of it was an albatross, because number one again it was the money and number two it was. At some point I'm going to have to deal with those things, you know what.
Speaker 2:I mean yeah.
Speaker 1:It's always on your to-do list. It's always on the to-do list, always, always, always, always. And so so what happened is and I think I'm prepared to use some names here because I want to call out some really bad of the company that we worked with so what I did when I just was determined to not continue to have these things and be able to be more agile, I was starting to think about where I was going to live next. I knew I wasn't going to buy another house anytime soon because I didn't know where I wanted to live. And so you know when and if I ever buy another house, it would have to be locked in that this is where I would want to live.
Speaker 1:And I knew that that kind of sense of things was far off right, and I wasn't going to pay storage until God kind of made that clear to me, anyway. So I hired someone to project manage that whole effort for me, someone that I'd worked with before, that I had, and still have, a high level of trust for really resourceful and absolutely no no issues with the work that she did on my behalf and that type of thing. But she was recommended this company that that handles estate sales and I don't know all the names that they have for this type of work, but they resell things they made for estate sales.
Speaker 1:I think they typically Probably like liquidation stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly that type of thing.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, so I tried to do some of that on my own, but that was one of the barriers for me. I don't have time for this. I you know I don't want to do it. I just know it's something I have to do. So let me hire someone to help me to do it. And you know she would check in regularly. And anyway she found this company. The deal was that they were going to go to the storage unit. When I say storage unit, I mean this big warehouse where whenever I went there just a few times over the few years that my things were there they had to actually with a forklift kind of bring down.
Speaker 1:maybe I had like six pallets, whatever size they were, and they would have to look at their listing to see where the item might be.
Speaker 2:Oh man, that right. There is a barrier to you know, open it up.
Speaker 1:Getting. Yeah, yeah, and have me get my things out, and anyway. So the deal was that this liquidation company would pick up the things from the storage unit, take it to their facility, set it up so that people could come in and see what's there and you know, when they had the sale they would keep track of what was sold, whatever. And so we got the contract. The initial agreement was that it was going to be 50-50 of what was sold. Right, the person that I hired negotiated down to 60-40. I would get 60, they would get 40. And it ended up with all of the things that were in my home. It ended up costing me money. This whole transaction ended up costing me a few hundred dollars. I made nothing. It cost me money and I just really feel taken advantage of. But I also it's almost like when you get swindled. So it's almost like when you get swindled when you feel so much guilt and shame that you didn't dot every I and cross every T.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you start blaming yourself for being so stupid. So it's like let's just move on, Exactly no-transcript.
Speaker 1:She's amazing with logistics and I really like I still feel that way about her, but I think she was. She was lied to as well and I think she trusted the person who recommended them and the contract was cannot save anything, or I mean you probably feel like you just want to move on.
Speaker 1:I, I, I do because, um, I do because I do not want to give any more than I have to of my give, any more than I have to of my, my headspace. That's why this conversation is really helping me to process, because I mean, sometimes I would just wake up, you know, out of you know, just wake up out of a dream state where I was dreaming about how awful I felt, about how things went down.
Speaker 2:Sure sure, and I mean quite honestly, it's a loss. So I know that we can. We're talking about the. You know the tangible logistics of it, but we can also now start talking about the emotional part of it, the traumatic part of it.
Speaker 2:You know why. Let me ask you this why do you feel it such a loss if, in fact, these things have been in storage for a few years? You haven't really seen them for a few years, so they weren't part of your day-to-day life. Now that they're gone a few years, so they weren't part of your day-to-day life.
Speaker 1:Now that they're gone, what the what? Well, okay, I'll answer it this way. It's not that I wish I still had these things.
Speaker 2:It's not that at all.
Speaker 1:It's more, man, if I just donated these things, if I knew, like the family who now lives down the street from me a refugee family, from a Somali family and I go to drop off stuff and I see that they lack so much furniture or whatever If I had given it to them, to 10 other families like that it's not like you want the things I would feel so amazing? Sure, yeah, I get it. I get it. So it's not the loss of me losing them, it's the loss of their value to people.
Speaker 2:Right, you could have blessed someone who was needy, not to these swindlers or whatever you know, to people who you know. And then there's something to be said about how you feel about being taken advantage of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that too.
Speaker 2:You know yeah.
Speaker 1:That too, and what to do about it. And again where this is where the shame comes in. It's like even the question, the first question that you asked as well was there a contract? Yeah, there was a contract. Okay, now, what, like? Who do I present this contract to? I thought about the person that I hired. Let's call her Hope, not her real name. She suggested that I go to the attorney's general office and she sent me the link to their site and I went and I looked at all of that they required. Okay, it's basically, you have to show while you were without fault, you have to show, you have to paint the whole picture for them. And because I wasn't managing it myself and I wasn't kind of you know, it's like, okay, anything, just speak to hope and hope will let you know, I understand.
Speaker 2:I understand, because sometimes it's like the just the information gathering is onerous, right, you know, and it's like, oh man, you know nevermind. Nevermind, there's so much else other things going on in my life, it's like, but then there's like something nagging you. Oh, ange, I get it.
Speaker 1:It's like something nagging you. Oh, Ange, I get it. Yeah, it's like that and it's, you know it's. So they came, they picked up everything. They charged me $500 to move the things from my storage unit over to them, right? It was messy in that they were supposed to meet me there at a certain time. They said they got lost, all the things. You could just tell that they weren't being truthful, because it's like, oh, if you were lost and then five minutes later they show up. Well, based on what you said, you would have been like 45 minutes away. You wouldn't have been five.
Speaker 1:It was just kind of, but it's like okay whatever, so it was just like a series of these things.
Speaker 2:All right, they got me, they got me.
Speaker 1:And so they came, they picked up the stuff, they took it there. Then there were all these delays in when they were actually going to have the sale right when they said they would be setting it up. I thought it was kind of this big warehouse, expansive, people could come look around. It was like a portion of an office park and I'm going to pull up the name of the company because I do want to mention them. It was this portion of um, an office park that um had. Very it was. It was small and so it wasn't like this place that people could come and like different vignettes would be set up and they could.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean Come in.
Speaker 1:This is the kitchen stuff, this is the living room and things like that Beautiful leather couch. Just, oh my gosh, the other day Johnny asked me if his he was really into baking, like baking, like amazing baking, and taking it to his friends for all different events and for school and so on. So we got him this really nice KitchenAid you know, those big heavy mixers with all of the attachments and all of that stuff.
Speaker 1:Well, he's like mom was that, and I know it was a part of what was in storage, that's a $500 mixer yeah. It's gone and you know like, according to them, everything that was in my home that you know things were, some things were damaged, some things were damaged in storage and all of that stuff. But anyway, I, in terms of money that I got, I got 600 and something, dollars 500, I'd already paid to them and then I had to pay hope. So I lost money, but that's all the money that I got from them, um, you know, and at one point they, they, I.
Speaker 1:I understand that they were frustrated, but I didn't cause their frustration, it was kind of their internal process, that was whatever. But the owner was on the phone with me and he was telling me you know, well, your stuff wasn't worth shit. And, um, no, yes, yes, and he did after that apologize. But what the fuck? What? What are you? What? What? Who are you talking?
Speaker 2:to.
Speaker 1:What are you actually saying? What are you? What are you?
Speaker 2:talking to? What are you?
Speaker 1:actually saying? What are you?
Speaker 2:actually saying Wow, I see the trauma around this whole thing.
Speaker 1:And the name.
Speaker 2:After you mention their name. I would like us and we don't have a whole lot of time left to talk, but I want to just talk about in general what collecting all that like. How did we get?
Speaker 1:here. Yeah Well, the name of the company is Bolton Estate Cleanout and Furniture Liquidation. I think it's the name of the company Bolton Estate Cleanout and Furniture Liquidation.
Speaker 2:And the best, the worst that you can do and I think I can even help you with this is let's, let's write some reviews, online reviews. Yeah, just talk about our experience. That.
Speaker 1:That that's easy, yeah, yeah google, etc. You know yeah but yeah, so yeah, if, if, if, those things. Alternatively, damn, he said, if I'd even given, because the company that was the storage place, they have a donation center too, so I could have just turned everything over to them had I known that. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:How could you have known? How could I?
Speaker 1:have known and I did want to at least go through my things to see and so, having them moved elsewhere, I was able to see what was there and take out some of the pieces, the smaller pieces that I wanted for my apartment, not the sofa or anything like that. I did want to start a new, but some really nice little side tables and things like that that you know Persian rug, you know a few things like that I wanted to keep, but I knew that I didn't. I didn't want or need the bulk of my things. So, anyway, this is really helping us just talking it through and not being so closeted about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you believe it or not, you had not mentioned to me, you know certainly not this level of detail. You know, I knew that it didn't go well, but I didn't know how well. And right, you know, right, the guy did this stuff.
Speaker 1:So this happened, but when it was, while it was being taken from storage to this other place, I did kind of look at everything. I tried to touch as many things as I could. I said thank you for being there for my family. I did do that and I have some videos of the things which I have not revisited, but I have them. So I did do that type of kind of mindful work around it, of kind of mindful work around it, but it was the it was the disrespect of my things and the experience that you know the balance of.
Speaker 1:Well, you did all this, but at least you got this little bit of money for it or whatever that would have.
Speaker 2:Mitigated some of this yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, anyway, and you know, I think this is good counsel for me going forward, because I'm almost at the beginning of this journey where I'm paying monthly for not one but two, two, two, two storage bins. You know when the first one was like you've got to be kidding if you think all this is going to fit in that. So you know, my immediate goal is to at least get down to one. But I admit I need help. You know I need help, but I do know that I don't need or want all the things. I just don't know how and what to get rid of. You know, yeah.
Speaker 1:And we're going to change the language about the get rid, because it's that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's a part of it too. You know, we're in a community where we have people who are tuned in to our podcast, who are looking to move abroad, either full-time or at least partially, or to downsize. They're empty nesters. They are people in this age group, so we have resources of people what have you done?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And this could be helping them you know, yeah, yeah, this is how we're doing it, because you're kind of just at the beginning of the process.
Speaker 2:And you know, I think that we'll do it justice a little more justice, if we put this part of the conversation into our part two. But I really want to talk about some of the real inner, almost genetic, reasons why we're predisposed to collect and hold on to things. Hold on to things, I know. You know for me as a Black person, I know from my family history of not coming from very wealthy people who've had a lot. We certainly may do with what we've had, and only in retrospect do I realize how little my grandmother and great grandmother must have had. You know, so we were always taught.
Speaker 2:You know, you hold on to your good stuff. You know I, one of my loved ones, is a hoarder and what they say is you know, when I ask them why don't you donate it? You know, why don't you donate this? Well, that's my good stuff. You know, when I ask them why don't you donate it? You know why don't you donate this? Well, that's my good stuff. You know, and it's like well, people appreciate receiving good stuff. We don't only have to get rid of, you know, things that are, you know, bad or you know, unusable or tattered or whatever. You know People. You can bless people with good things. Do you need them or not? Are they serving you or not? You know, and that's harder.
Speaker 1:Have they served you well, and is it time to move on to smaller, to? You know to different.
Speaker 2:And that's where I have trouble, because when we have room to store things in our large homes that we don't have to think about those things.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:You know, Exactly, and the only reason that I'm even considering giving away or releasing some of these things is because I don't have room anymore, and I don't want to have the room anymore. You know, I don't want to have a very, very large space with you know.
Speaker 1:Right, right. I think that's why there's so many storage. They pop up, like everywhere. We buy the thing. It's such a huge. Do you know how much it costs? Because you know, I I have um a lot of hair dye and hair products from my um wig business and which which I still use for theater, but I have so much of it, so you buy these things, okay, whatever you buy a bottle of um of of dye, it's six dollars, whatever, right. And then you you're paying every month to store it somewhere. You're not.
Speaker 2:It becomes a sin, it becomes and then if you think of it like that if you think of it like that.
Speaker 1:how much is that costing you? Yes?
Speaker 2:A six dollar bottle of dye is now eighteen dollars. It's tripled. You know, I recently did a closet purge of spices, spices. How many jars of dried parsley and curry do you need the scent? There's no more scent to it. They say, when you can't smell your spices anymore it's time to go, and many of them have dates on it. But it's just that. You know, we have, we put the curry in the back. Then when we want to make another curry dish, we buy a new one and don't think that we. You know, we have we put the curry in the back. Then when we want to make another curry dish, we buy a new one and don't think that we. You know, it becomes overwhelming actually.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I was going to say the next thing that the next part two because there has to be a part two, even maybe part three of this is we really need to delve a little bit more into. I'll be transparent about how the acquisition of the stuff has made me feel over the last couple of decades.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, do you have the book with you?
Speaker 2:I do, Although it is my computer is leaning on it. Now I'm a little bit higher. You can now see that I have no pants on.
Speaker 1:I have pants on. At least you have on a top this time.
Speaker 2:But yes, but yeah, this is the book I've been reading and I've been internalizing it. Yeah, this is the book I've been reading and I've been internalizing it.
Speaker 1:You know I really the Afro-Minimalist's Guide to Living with Less Christine Platt, nice. So we'll go into that, the teachings of that. Next time Leslie will kind of lead the conversation and we'll talk through some of that and share that with you. And we'll talk through some of that and share that with you. She was one of the speakers at this year's Exodus Summit that Stephanie Perry and Rashida Dow hosted in October and we'll put links to Exodus Summit and to Christine Platt's website in the description.
Speaker 2:All right, I think so You're good. Yeah, I'm just like thinking. You got me thinking about what these storage bins look like, but I would love for you remember, press like and subscribe and tell us a little bit about your let's call it collecting.
Speaker 2:We won't say tell us about some of the collections that you all have acquired over the years and what you think about it, and if you want to get rid of some stuff, or if you want to let go of some things or bless others with these, some of these things, what are some of the barriers or some of the considerations that you've been thinking about before you're able to let them go?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. And if you found this wonderful way to go through and to make decisions about what to keep and what to give away and what is not worthy of being given away, and maybe you know you found a scrap, exchange or some other place to donate, share those with us in the comments. Why don't you?
Speaker 2:Okay, all right. Well, I'm going to take us out by saying thank you for listening. We appreciate you all, and this has been another episode of Black Boomer Besties from Brooklyn, brooklyn.
