How The Shawshank Redemption Changed My Life

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2014

Abstract

ike “what was the point of keeping all these things?” just to have someone else wonder why you owned them and then make decisions about whether to throw away, or donate to charity, or dish out among remaining family members.</p><p id="9d82">Back on the 1st of January, as I was thinking about what else I could declutter, it occurred to me that one way to get rid of things was by using them up. I mean, that’s obvious, it’s not rocket science. But it was the wider realisation that I’m spending a lot of time planning for when I’m no longer here, instead of just living and enjoying my life now. For example, my favourite hobby is knitting, and I have a lot of gorgeous yarn. Although I have no intention of donating any of that, I wasn’t using it either, because days, weeks, and months were passing by when I didn’t do any knitting. Instead, I was spending my time decluttering and tidying up. I was too busy planning for a future without me in it instead of living in the present.</p><figure id="46aa"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*QJ9LAg2V9FlnI1yI"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@juniorferreir_?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Júnior Ferreira</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><blockquote id="04b3"><p>“Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying”</p></blockquote><p id="cd2c">Suddenly, this quote from The Shawshank Redemption popped into my head. It goes without saying that in the film, and the original novella by Stephen King, it had quite a bit more meaning to it than “stop tidying up and knit some socks!”, but it still struck a chord with me. I realised that, in my own small way, I was doing too much of the second half of it, and not enough of the first.</p><p id="2cc6">So whilst I’ll keep chipping away at the clutter (like Andy with his rock hammer!), and, more importantly, learning not to over-consume in the first place, I’m going to focus more on livin

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g my life now, and doing the things I enjoy.</p><p id="8e4a"><i>If this story resonates with you, please clap (up to 50 times!) and comment.</i></p><p id="956c">You may also like:</p><div id="e443" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/wear-the-bracelet-1993530d5237"> <div> <div> <h2>Wear The Bracelet</h2> <div><h3>Before it’s too late.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*emJKY_G2ZmSs31xm)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="c137" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/@michelleh79/subscribe"> <div> <div> <h2>Get an email whenever Michelle Hare publishes.</h2> <div><h3>Get an email whenever Michelle Hare publishes. By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don't already…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*_d14ZD08-j46b0_V)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="79e5" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/@michelleh79/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Michelle Hare</h2> <div><h3>Read every story from Michelle Hare (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee directly supports…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*xudzmTVRwRt7N4Zm)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Why Planning For The Future Isn’t Always A Good Thing

Source: IMDB

While I was thinking about my 2023 plans and intentions (I don’t like to call them resolutions) I realised how much time I spend thinking about my death. Well, not my actual death, but rather, I seem to have become a bit obsessed with “getting my affairs in order” before I die. I’m only in my 40s, so I hope that’s a very long way off! I recently started compiling a photo album, ostensibly for my son’s benefit so that he will know a bit of my family history before it’s too late (or when it’s too late). I’ve tried to make a list of my ‘inventory’ — everything I own — and write about which things are sentimental to me, and why. Again, more for the benefit of others than myself. And because I enjoy the liberating feeling that follows a good decluttering session, I’m always searching for things to donate to charity. I admire the minimalist lifestyle, or at least the part which encourages you to only have your most beloved and meaningful possessions around you. I want to have fewer things, less ‘stuff’, though sometimes I almost feel like I’m slowly erasing myself from my own life; certainly, erasing my presence from our home.

I think I’m doing my own variation on Swedish Death Cleaning. I don’t want my son to have to sort through a house full of my possessions, not knowing what they meant to me. Although one of my parents is still alive, I have helped with the clearing out of possessions of other relatives after they’d passed away, and each time I seem to feel a sense of futility, like “what was the point of keeping all these things?” just to have someone else wonder why you owned them and then make decisions about whether to throw away, or donate to charity, or dish out among remaining family members.

Back on the 1st of January, as I was thinking about what else I could declutter, it occurred to me that one way to get rid of things was by using them up. I mean, that’s obvious, it’s not rocket science. But it was the wider realisation that I’m spending a lot of time planning for when I’m no longer here, instead of just living and enjoying my life now. For example, my favourite hobby is knitting, and I have a lot of gorgeous yarn. Although I have no intention of donating any of that, I wasn’t using it either, because days, weeks, and months were passing by when I didn’t do any knitting. Instead, I was spending my time decluttering and tidying up. I was too busy planning for a future without me in it instead of living in the present.

“Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying”

Suddenly, this quote from The Shawshank Redemption popped into my head. It goes without saying that in the film, and the original novella by Stephen King, it had quite a bit more meaning to it than “stop tidying up and knit some socks!”, but it still struck a chord with me. I realised that, in my own small way, I was doing too much of the second half of it, and not enough of the first.

So whilst I’ll keep chipping away at the clutter (like Andy with his rock hammer!), and, more importantly, learning not to over-consume in the first place, I’m going to focus more on living my life now, and doing the things I enjoy.

If this story resonates with you, please clap (up to 50 times!) and comment.