This weekend, I was looking for a picture of my 18-year-old self. Our office is putting together a bulletin board for Parents Weekend, and someone came up with the idea that we post our pictures from the time when we were the same age our students are now. I knew I had the picture somewhere – I just needed to go through my stuff and find it.

In the midst of this search, I began thinking about stuff.

Not as in ideas or worries or plans. I’m talking about the stuff we all have: clothes, books, furniture, papers, dishes, TVs, pens, hammers. You know, the stuff we accumulate over the course of our lives.

I live in a fairly small apartment, where I’ve been for eight years. It’s certainly smaller than any house I’ve lived in. Yet, it took me a while to find the picture I wanted because I still have a lot of stuff. I bet I’m not alone.

I then started thinking about the time we spend every week dealing with our stuff. We look for stuff, clean stuff, throw out stuff, re-arrange stuff, repair stuff, and insure stuff. We make countless decisions about our stuff: Do I keep this? Will I need it again some day? Do I have too many of these? Could someone less fortunate use this? Am I tired of seeing it around the house? Will I feel bad if I put it up some place where I don’t see it all the time? And that doesn’t even cover the time spent looking for new stuff to buy.

I finally found the picture of my 18-year-old self and suddenly felt wistful. I started talking to her. “Don’t spend so much time and money on stuff. If you can put stuff to the side, you will have a better life. You can live more in the moment, enjoying people, nature, and even silence. Stuff is temporary. It distracts you. Spending time thinking ‘I wish I had this…I wish I had that…’ is a waste. Because it really doesn’t matter in the end. The laughter with your family is what matters. The way you talk to a co-worker or friend is what matters. The smile you give to the tired, overwhelmed student in your office is what matters. The idea you have that will make someone else’s life easier is what matters.”

Of course, all she did was smile back at me.