Hurricane Katrina 2 years and counting

There were certainly several major revelations that came before our eyes relentlessly during the coverage of the storm. Who would have thought we would see bloated bodies laying out in the sun several days after the actual event. That brought us up short.

Aways down the list of horrors was the fact these people lost everything, including their personal belongings. Family photos and genealogical items topped the list of things people felt profound loss over.

Think for a minute about losing everything. Everything. Of course not only victims of natural disasters experience this. House fires are also responsible for having everything one minute and nothing the next. How would you feel? To have nothing. No thing to your name.

Not a bed to sleep on, or a change of clothes, or a place to take a shower, or food.

Further down the line comes your "stuff". Your jewelry, your electronic toys, your books and papers, photos, mementos of your children or your parents.

You would feel totally cast adrift in the world. Tethered to nothing, unattached. You would have to be awfully strong to not feel that your identity was not on shaky ground.

We are so enamoured of our stuff. It is so much of our identity. Often times we don't even think about our relationship to it. Especially if we don't have to move several times in our life. Then we really build up the stuff mountains. Stuff sits in our attics and basements and on our shelves. Sometimes we don't touch it for years.

Maybe it is time to choose what is really important in life and let some of the rest go. Give some away to someone who needs a new start, for whatever reason. As my friend says, if we just take what we need we'll all have enough.