I Like To Keep Stuff

 The only thing I enjoy more than drinking Earl Grey Tea, black and hot, is breathing air. Okay that's a little bit of a stretch but tea is a daily thing for me. So a tea pot is significant in my life. Or is it tea which is significant? 

My Teapot 

 This teapot was given to me years ago. My wife says it was a gift from my friend Sean. In any case I have used it for years. The teapot served me well. I would drink a pot of tea before noon, and drink two more pots by days end. I would not drink tea too late in the evening. Maybe by six in the afternoon, I would have my last cup for the day. Although there are occasions where I do have late night tea. Last week my grandkids were visiting with me and we were at the table. I picked up the teapot to pour myself a cup and didn't you know it, I dropped it on the table and it bounced onto the floor. The handle broke off. I was devastated. Still, it's only a teapot. Teapots are everywhere, just need to go to a thrift shop or one of those big box stores, like moldy-old-Wallies, aka Walton family billionaire (Walmart) shop.  So why does it bother me, that the teapot is broken. I still have it and am still considering what to do with it. Should I get the handle welded back on? I mean, I have a very nice new one, a metal one as well. It was a gift from my sister-in-law. I have used it sparingly so far. So why even keep the old pot. I was thinking I could hang it outside as a bird house. 

Why do we decide to keep stuff? We collect, we buy stuff, we hoard stuff and we cherish some stuff. It's just stuff, right? 

Some things we do cherish for sure. I have a rock in my Medicine Bundle. The rock is about the size of a baseball. It is black and white and elongated. Nothing extraordinary in it is a rock, picked up from the river banks of the Squamish area in British Columbia. The rock was picked up by my six year old daughter and given to me. What could I do, just toss it? No it means something, now. So somethings have meaning and we keep them. Somethings still have meaning and we get rid of it, go figure, eh? We lived in a nice house, the first house we purchased. We sold it after a few years. We have gone through many vehicles in our lives. I really like knives but I have given so many knives away as well. So there is no real pattern or rationale to what we keep and what we can discard.  We have given away plenty of Native art works, beaded items, carved items, walking sticks, clothes, and a few vehicles (not new of course but still good). I have literally taken off my coat and given it away. Haven't done the shoes off my feet, but know some people have done that. I have given shoes away as well numerous times and purchased shoes for folks.

It may sound like I'm just boasting about being generous, maybe I am a bit, but it's more about what we as a people are forgetting. As Indigenous folk we did not really acquire a lot of stuff. Colonialism, private ownership and capitalism sure did a good trick on us. Look at the way Settlers came here and just claimed everything, took everything and still want everything. It's was the best trick settlers - colonialists did to the world; to get people to be greedy and think it was alright. Oh, before I go on about keeping stuff and my tea pot, let me tell you about Cardinal Sin. No, not that sin; pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. It's the other sin, tea in a coffee pot. It is when someone uses a pot, kettle that has been used for coffee in the past and now uses it for tea. I can't stand this. What is worse, a lot of restaurants, Caterers make this horrible mistake. It is unforgiveable to a tea drinker. Can you taste it right now, the bitter taste of coffee mixed with the beauty of tea. Coffee, black of course, is no doubt a delight, but you don't mix sugar with potassium chloride. You just don't, unless you want things to explode. Mixing a coffee used vessel to carry tea is a sinking boat. Get off it right now. 

Getting back to keeping stuff. A neighbor of my daughters died a while back. She used to see him hanging his laundry outside. He kept to himself,  was old, his house was decrepit, his yard was disheveled, he hoarded things. Some of his habits were predicable and he would always take his clothes in after the day. My daughter phoned me one day and said she noticed he hadn't been taking his clothes in, she hadn't seen outside and his light was left on. She phoned non-emergency to ask for a wellness check on him. Fire department came, and went. Said "no answer at the door and they can't go in." Well it went on for a time, a couple of weeks and my daughter phoned again. One day the city came and was cleaning his yard and mowing the grass. They were asked if anything happened to the old man. They couldn't comment on him, but said "don't expect to be seeing him soon." Don't hoard stuff, you can't take it with you, or maybe you can? I know people who provide gifts to people when they die and it's for their journey. Who knows if we can take things when we go, not literally but maybe in some kind of symbolic or metaphysical way. 

You know who I think maybe on to something, it is those Minimalists. There are many benefits to those Minimalism living. I like stuff, so fuck those minimalists. If I can't have stuff, what is the point of giving it away. I like stuff and I enjoy giving it away. But maybe I can let some of those underwear I have, those ones with the weak elastics.