In Neil Young's song, "This Old Guitar"he talks about an instrument with almost human attributes. Neil's deeper message is that we don't live forever. Even a nice sounding guitar must be taken care of and if possible, passed to others, for we do not live forever.
I think this is an important metaphor. Our bodies don't last forever, our houses don't last forever. And we will, at the end of our lives, depart from all of our possessions.
Seth Godin encourages the readers of his books to pass the books on to other people who might need them. I've given every one of his books away after I have read them. The information he stored in those books doesn't leave me when I give these books to others. If anything, the message gets clearer in my mind and now I have someone to talk to about the book's contents.
As I approach 50 years old, my life is full of things I should give away and let go of. I strive every day to clean something up, organized something and to give something to somebody in need.
Yesterday I went to a homeless vets' shelter and gave some guitar lessons. It wasn't a 'thing' necessarily that I gave away yesterday. Yesterday, I gave of my time.
To give something away means I need to think about its use and why I have it in my life now. I then go down the thought process of how I got it and its value to me. Then of course, I think about who needs it and what relative value will it become to them. These are hard things to think about. It is about making decisions.
If I hold on to any of this stuff past my death, it becomes a hindrance to those who have to clean up the mess once I am gone.
Neil sings, "This old guitar ain't mine to keep. I'm only taking care of it now. "
Nothing is here for me to keep. What I have is only on loan for a little while. What I have, I must take care of. What I can't take care of, I must let go of.
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