Domestic Archeology, Part I

If there is any justice in the universe, when you've reached an age where downsizing becomes necessary, you will find that your work presents special challenges. When I began taking apart my house after a decade of residence, I thought I had a good idea of what was involved. Months later, with the task mostly completed, I feel that all the complexities of unsorted stuff and personal nonsense somehow offered a new and very instructive view of my last ten years. Yes, it's a cheap form of self-assessment, and at present, it's all I can afford.

Please give me this benefit of a doubt: for six of those years, I had a full-time job that sucked the air out of the rest of my life. What was left in the wake of not sorting and organizing was amusing, horrifying, endearing, and bizarre at times. The house I am about to sell was about double what I actually needed, but when you are in your forties, you sometimes forget that all that junk will pile up like new year's resolutions. There was definitely an acquisitive phase and I acquired too much. Word to my friends who are thinking of downsizing: you probably have no idea of what all has gathered under your roof, and you'd better get to dealing with it.

Twenty years ago, I started grad school, and clinging to every book on every topic I could find was only logical. (Now, you can look it up on the web or join an online library like Questia.) So there were books and more books and books beyond the posted limits of what one mind could absorb. Some collections of books are still precious to me (novels set in Michigan, Motown Records histories, Janis Joplin biographies, several boxes of anti (Vietnam) war books and studies of hippie counterculture, and some important tomes from my youth. Who knows why I need to hold on to my fourth grade poetry textbook, but there is at least one item in there that I cherish because I once had to memorize it.

Other media forms follow suit: I love the tapes I made on grainy VHS twenty years ago, though several trash bags worth have been deleted. My pre-recorded VHS tapes went to charity. I have only kept VHSes of the following categories: obscure silent film, cult standards, and personal oddities, including (like the fourth grade poem) a bunch of old TV shows I taped. Who can live without an old Schmenge Brothers special with John Candy and the rest of the SCTV wackos? (Look them up on YouTube.) I also have vinyl, cassettes, and a few music or video things on little discs that I am not at all sure how to play, since the formats failed. For full disclosure's sake: a few 78s, no eight tracks or wax cylinders.

There are other categories to consider, but as any good writer should, I will take my readers' attention span into consideration and save my brain cells (and yours) for later. Just view this as the first part of a cautionary tale: you could end up like me if you aren't careful...

No Best of Decade Lists,New Year's Resolutions, or Profound Thoughts

Needless to say, I have been watching too much TV. The endless list of stories involving the above topics makes me wonder if every media outlet is so dumbed down that we can't get to the real stuff we should be discussing. As the year begins, there are always lists to endure, resolutions to proclaim, and final views of the preceding year to review. Not that I object to these things out of hand: we need to review to progress as individuals and as a society. But this year's lists are pretty mortifying to my sensibilities. Who presumes to rank marital infidelities and other bad behaviors? And how does this matter to most of us? I'm trying not to be cynical here, but it's not easy to resist.

On balance, my last decade was spent in a charming little town that showed its heart on more than one occasion. I rejected my former suburban existence and I found a lot of what had been missing. I owned the house of my dreams. I had a big stake in all sorts of community projects and issues. I lost a lot of battles, but won a few important ones.

I learned to slow down, and within months, discovered that I did not need to speed from event to event without seeing a bigger picture. When I returned to Oakland County to visit, I noticed how hassled and hurried everyone seemed to be, and I didn't miss that aspect of life at all. Nor did I miss the conspicuous consumption of fancy cars, clothes, etc.

To some, it would seem that the biggest story of the past ten years would be changes in technology. When I first came to Chelsea, I had one not especially reliable cell phone and an ancient computer. Now I have a smartphone, a laptop, a desktop, and wireless Internet at home. I clearly remember not being able to get anything but dial-up at first. DSL didn't arrive for several years. Wireless Internet was the most recent addition to my home. Being a student of human nature, it's hard to ignore that such changes have encouraged an impatience that comes with instant access.

So to those of my generation who have rejected technology because it seems too artificial, or too complicated, or too frivolous, let me encourage you to be a bit more open-minded. I am using the technology that I have to try to move forward. I've reconnected with old friends that I couldn't otherwise have found. It's genuinely terrific to think of all the things gained, that I'd be missing without my tools.

Now to the problems created by the beginning of a new decade. Let's back off the endless lists: I don't think that the best web videos of the year need our help. And for those items on each person's lists of blunders, heart-breakers, and annoyances, I imagine they're going to fade away as life progresses. Nothing is as important as accepting life's imperfections, especially one's own.

On balance, these are the things that matter most as the new year unfolds.