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How many valuable possessions we have and we don’t even know?

Francisco Miraval

A few days ago I was cleaning the garage and my son remarked that we could probably build a completely new house using just the things we store in our garage and without buying anything else. That is, of course, and exaggeration, but his observation got me thinking about how many things we already own and we are not even aware of that.

The conversation began because, moving a box, I discovered several new paint brushes inside a plastic bag that I completely forgot. For that reason, I bought more brushes when I needed to retouch the paint in a few places at home.

I wondered, then, how many other things are also stored in my garage and I didn’t know or remember they are there. Perhaps that’s why I have many brushes and cans of paint. Perhaps, I said to myself, that’s why I have three very similar hammers.

I think the garage is just a metaphor for our own mind, where year after year we accumulate many things (ideas, information, beliefs…) and then we forget those things are there. Having forgotten what we already have in our minds, we go shopping for new ideas, knowledge, or beliefs.

I think it is OK to have more than one paint brush or hammer. They are usually inexpensive and they do not have an expiration date. Also, in the case of electrical tools, you know you need to replace them every so many years.

But what happens with our ideas? Should we go out and buy new ideas we don’t really need only because we have forgotten the ideas we already have?  Perhaps we stopped using those ideas or perhaps they were in a dark corner of our mind.

Also, should be update our ideas just because we assume they are not up to date with the times and they became obsolete, as obsolete, so to speak, as an electrical drill built a few decades ago? (The old drill still works, but it lacks the power and efficiency of more recent models.)

And how often we “clean” our minds to check how many things we have accumulated and to decide what to keep and what to throw away? Perhaps we want to keep some ideas from our childhood, not because we still believe in them, but because they bring good memories. Or perhaps we need to discard useless ideas, as useless as those broken Christmas lights in my garage that I will never repair nor use again.

Cleaning the garage is a family affair where we all laugh when we discover forgotten things and we are concerned if something falls and breaks. And it takes time and energy to do it. But, who has the time and energy to help us to clean our mind? Who would like to laugh, cry, or get tired with us handling our old and forgotten ideas? Each idea, as each thing in the garage, has a history telling us to keep it or discard it.

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