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         I just walked to the Goodwill and bought the largest suitcase I could find.  It's brown leather, weighs 50 pounds and is large enough for me to fit in.  Still, it's not large enough to house all the possessions close to my heart.  Four months ago, packed my apartment, my life into 7 trash bags, three suit cases and five crates; and now I must reduce those trash bags, suit cases and crates into one three foot by two foot square.  Something I've learned, living with 7 people, is that people carry with them objects of absolutely no monetary value, but hold a story and therefor hold value.  For instance, I have a ceramic dog I cannot part with.
          I am hoping that as I continue to downsize my life and filter myself down to a suit case and down to my core that I will find substance. I don't know where I'll go, but I trust myself to figure it out.  In the mean time I need to figure out how this ceramic dog is going to fit into this square.