Yep! I had an insane moment the other morning, and participated with a yard sale. You know I had promised to never, never have another one, after the last disaster; but … well, you know, stuff happens, and the urge to clear out will take you over like a whirlwind.  Wham!

    There have been times that I fully-well expected the crew from the TV program, Hoarder’s, to knock on my door, with a big truck in my drive, and TV crew who are ready to shoot a super-duper version of the hoarder-extraordinaire, who lives in my house. Could that really be me?  

    Well, yes, there is a chance I will become famous, but not as a hoarder, please. So, yes, there was a need here, therefore the yard sale went forward, however in a surprising and rewarding way.  Read all about it below.

    I think, by golly, I KNOW, that this was one successful yard sale. Oh, not in a monetary sense, but in the coming-together-sense.

    Let me explain.

    My good ole pal, my buddy/girlfriend called a couple of weeks back and mentioned having a yard sale.  She said we could have it in her three-car garage, out of the weather, and where we could setup the sale the night before locking it in her garage, so the morning of the sale all would be ready. At the moment it seemed like a real good idea.

    You know the routine; for two weeks I slung stuff out of my closets, attacked my kitchen cabinets, looked through my books, my costume jewelry, my shoes – ‘cause as “they” say, your trash is someone else’s treasure. I rounded up a mighty big heap of good stuff.

    Then I priced and tagged some of it until I decided to just holler out a price on the day of the sale.  I always start out real organized, and then I just tumble into the slam/slop technique of creative pricing, which is my version of an auction in the reverse.  It will go like this:

    Someone will ask, “How much is the lamp?”

    Then I holler $5.00, and in return the prospective buyer gives a counter offer of $3.00, and we settle on $4.00.

    It sort of keeps one on their toes, you know, like living on the edge in the yard sale world.

    Things were going real well.  My pal and I and her two daughters were enjoying doughnuts and chit/chat celebrating our thirty-five year friendship, like good friends can, and along came these two very friendly ladies. We all laughed and talked just enjoying our giggles and chuckles together as the two entertaining shoppers swapped home news with us.

    It seemed one of the ladies had a pet bird, yes, a pet bird that enjoyed a good plate of grits, not only grits, but grits with butter, I tell you! We started our giggles all over again, and again … you know, it felt good!

    None of us in my group knew these two ladies, nor did they know us, but we enjoyed a time of camaraderie and it was so comfortable, enjoyable, and great fun – just as though these two buyers at our yard sale could have been our good friends, too, for thirty-five years.

    It was a coming together of kindred souls, a happening that might not have occurred, except for a yard sale on a morning in Mississippi.

    Later, as I reflected on the day, I once again declared to never have another yard sale, but then I stopped to reconsider. I can justify the hard work, the sweat pouring from the brow, the toil and worrisome tasks required for the success of it all.

    Yes, that justification comes from the most simple of all our liberties.  The desire to commune with our fellow friends/acquaintances in a pleasant and fun-loving atmosphere, to be true neighbors and enjoy our blessings and freedoms together in a most unlikely way – that being a small and unassuming business enterprise, a yard sale.

    It was a win/win situation for everyone, making new friends, helping each other with their needs, and at the same time, taking full advantage of a-coming-together; yes, it was worth it!

    Who would have thought that a yard sale could be a balm of healing – remembering we live in this world of the twenty-first century, and we are still trying to figure each other out, but knowing we must come together to survive?

    Simple, yet a lesson so hard to learn, and as students of the universe, we are still taking baby steps to achieve a larger world picture, the ideal world of working together, living together, and yes, respecting each other – and it can all happen.

    We can make it happen. We MUST make it happen!

    On that morning there were six of us, my old pal, her two daughters, our two new friends, and me. Yes, the six of us moved a little closer together, shared some quality time, laughed together, sold a few essentials, made a couple bucks, but the BEST…the very best transaction of the morning was investing in two new friends – realizing that when the essentials are not important any longer, the coming together will see us through.

 

    Anne B. McKee is a writer and storyteller. Visit her web site: www.annemckee.net.