With the holidays almost upon us, some of you may have already or be thinking about leaving your belongings in boxes at a friend’s house or in storage. Maybe you’re going home from campus and you can leave stuff in your dorm room and you’re just taking a small suitcase with you.
Well in my case and I’m sure there are a few others like me, I only got to take a slither of all my stuff in a suitcase once the pandemic hit. And when the pandemic hit and we were told everything was closing, I put my stuff in storage with Second Closet and it’s been there ever since March. It’s quite weird to think my belongings have been there for so long and I don’t know if I really miss them at all because I seem to have forgotten a lot of the things. I have to say in the chaos of it all, Second Closet looked after my things, and I mainly used them because of other students’ recommendations. And now I’ve been thinking about how I appreciate what I have and how the things I value don’t lie in having ‘things’.
I got to take 10% or less of my items home so it is really really minimal, but I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. A lot of it was for sports, so I hope to need them again but a lot was just ‘stuff’. And it’s not worth dwelling on the stuff that isn't there. It’s important to reflect on what we get to experience, the time with others and the time we spend for ourselves. I remember watching my friend play ice hockey in the Varsity dome for U of T and it was really nice. Recently, I also attended a session on exam prep and my friend led an amazing conversation about being positive and keeping focused in these online environments. I think these times are special and worth much more than things.
Conversely, I have little things, small memorabilia, gifts from people that I like to have and some of it has made it back, but the feeling of the gift lasts much longer. And leading to the festivities around the corner, appreciate whatever people you see or the gift you get or don’t. Things are so up in the air and just being with the people that are close to you, or hearing their voice or spending time with them is special in itself and more than lucky enough. Take care and show that you realise the feelings are worth it.
[If you do need to store your belongings, I’d recommend Second Closet, something I learned from other students, who gave me a real review. I think it’s valuable to know, especially as an international student not knowing all the local places, and the difficulty in having conversations with other students this year.]
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