(Originally posted Oct 22, 2021)

When I left my past life, I also left behind a great number of items related to activities I love: camp and outdoor gear.

It wasn’t worth it.

Separating items down the the detail of whose screwdriver was whose and who bought what camp stove…

Not worth it.

Material items didn’t matter to me, they never had. My value as an individual and as a partner will never be about what material items I can contribute.

So starting over meant not only job/career, moving, community, friends, financials, traditions, etc… It also meant filling the gaps that were now showing up in my outdoor gear inventory.

Pans, but no stove…. Two person sleeping bag and a one person sleeping pad…

On my first trip out this spring I realized I didn’t have a camp chair.

I’d liked my previous camp chair a lot. And I wanted to find a new one that had some meaning… A chair that was definitively mine, one that would join me next to campfires, under the stars and last a long time.

I found this chair online and loved it. Immediately I got self conscious… “Nobody wants to be the one with the Husqvarna bike and chair and jacket. That’s so over the top”.