Backseat - From Where I Sit

May 2005

By: Michelle

Room for More

“Just let it go.” How many times have you heard that one? When you are angry or frustrated, you are supposed to “let it go”. When you bring up some wrong doing someone has done in the past you are told to just “let it go”. Or in my case, when you have too much junk around the house you are supposed to get rid of it by just “letting it go”. About the only time you aren’t supposed to let go is when you are on the motorcycle. That is why riding is such a natural for a hanger on like me.

The first time I “let go” I was 6 years old and had just learned to ride a 2-wheeled bicycle. Since that gravel-eating experience, I have never been a fan of letting go of anything. I was born in the “Hang on baby, Friday’s coming!” and “Hang in there” generation. After all those years of learning to “Hang on no matter what”, experts are telling us to “let go”. Something is just not right. You can hardly turn on the television without finding a program in which someone is going through another person’s stuff and – gasp – throwing it away. Whatever happened to waste not want not?

What’s wrong with holding on to the past? In my case, I like to hang on to “stuff” that represents the past. There is nothing wrong with that. Everyone scoffed when I held on to that fondue pot. Well, guess, what I saw on sale at BJ’s last week? My little habit just saved me $35.00. You just never when you are going to need something - like that coconut scraper I bought as a gag gift. Every time I think about giving it away, I just know I will regret it. Especially if I become stranded on a tropical island filled with nothing but coconut trees. I can’t help it if I have overdeveloped survival skills.

You would think that living the biker life would help me learn to simplify because I am forced carry around only what is necessary. Well, to an extent that is true. I only carry one extra pair of dress shoes and my good purse in the saddle bag – just in case. The true test is when we pass a yard sale on a motorcycle. It is then that my treasure hunting genes kick in. Nothing is more enjoyable than the challenge of finding just the right thing and seeing if there is some way to carry it home. My philosophy is – if it fits on the bike, I was meant to have it.

Just recently I have discovered a new place to store things literally under my own nose. Now, I carry my tape recorder and camera around my neck; I strap the water bottle on my back; I put my notepad, pen, keys, money and ID in my pockets. I can’t believe I hadn’t realized the potential of the human body before. This frees up a whole lot of room for more treasures that I just can’t live without that we may discover along our route. I would gladly look like a pack mule if it means I can cram that one of a kind bongo playing toad statue or that must have smoothie making machine into the saddle bag.

Just like the old adage that work will fill the time allowed, in my life, junk will fill the space allowed. Experts tell us that we can make room for abundance by cleaning our clutter. Well, I probably already have abundance somewhere in the bottom of my closet – and that’s good enough for me. And now that I have learned to use my body as a new storage space, I will always have room for more. Now if I can just figure out how to utilize that space between my ears.

Hang loose!

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