King Tut is Dead

Last Tuesday, I ended up going to the Dallas Museum of Art with CharLau. I got free VIP tickets to the Tutankhamun (I call him good ol' King Tut) exhibit from HCWen, one of our friends from volleyball. This means we got to skip the line and we can come in anytime, any day the exhibit is open.

The exhibit was basically all the stuff that gets buried with King Tut. There were hundreds of items in his coffin. Oh, funny situation. CharLau and I overheard this mom talking to her young daughter (maybe three years old) in front of King Tut's relative's coffin. The mom told her that the queen was in the coffin. The daughter asked, "why does she have a cough?"

So King Tut was buried with statues of himself, statues of gods that will protect him, small board games so he can play in his afterlife, a chair, necklaces, a crown, a head rest, and many other things. In his mummy wrappings were at least 150 amulets. The item closest to his body was a dagger that was supposed to protect him. When he was buried, he had separate jars for his intestine, his stomach, his liver, his lung, and they embalm the heart. It is still a mystery why he died at the young age of 19. My first thought went to the movie Ghost Town and thinking maybe he had a really bad cavity. But later on they said that he had perfect teeth and no cavities.

I started thinking of my own situation as I was in the museum. This past week it has been really hard for me to give away some of my items in the house. Some things are valuable to me either because it cost me financially or because I have sentimental attachment to the item. Some items included the terrra cota chess set, my stuffed animals, my paintings, and some kitchen appliances. I feel like I can't sell them or donate them because I want them to have a really good home. I want the person I give it to to really care for the item like I cared for the item, and to not feel weird if I ask them about how that item is doing. Therefore, the person has to be a relative or close friend, and really want the item and not just take it from us as a favor.

Yet, the museum reminded me that stuff is still just stuff. When I die, I can't take it with me.

Other than the above stated sentimental items, I have been ok giving away a lot of the other items. It has actually been more freeing. I have only about 11 winter shirts, 13 summer shirts, and 6 pants left. I still need to cut it down. I have donated 3 bags of clothes, about 4 small boxes of toys and home decor items, sold a box of books and gave away another 40 books. My kitchen is now down to the bare minimum and it is so easy to clean the house now. Less stuff means less to clean. Ebay has been going pretty well. We have sold 28 out of 41 items and have made some profit.

As I continue to finish up the cleaning out house, I need to be reminded that although King Tut had a lot of stuff, he is still dead. When I die, I can't be buried with all my stuff, and I can't enjoy my stuff anymore. I need to have the perspective that stuff it is only stuff.