When It's Time to "Lego" of Your Stuff

An Imperial AT-ST walker. I call her "Legs." (Get it? Because of her legs? And because she's made of Legos? My humor has layers, friends.)

As I mentioned in a recent post, Mike and I are relocating to New York City later this year. This will be a huge transition in any number of ways, but surely among the most jarring will be the dramatic loss of space that awaits us. We fully expect that after trading in our sprawling, 1,800 square-foot Seattle palace, we'll be squeezing into a cozy little shoebox somewhere in the five boroughs. It won't be easy, but we're resigned to the realities of NYC apartment-living, and we'll adjust.

In preparation for the big move, we have begun the preliminary purging of stuff, sifting through drawers, cupboards, shelves, and closets for anything unwanted and easily discarded. The prospect of lugging all of our crap cross-country has motivated us to do as much slimming down as possible. And of course, if we hope to actually fit into the new place, this downsizing will be essential. But in spite of having already sold or donated dozens of books and DVDs, piles of clothes and shoes, and numerous other household sundries, we still feel nowhere closer to our goal-weight in stuff. We're beginning to accept the reality that to achieve this goal, when the time comes, some tough decisions will have to be made. 

Which brings me to the subject of this post: My Legos. 

Among my most geeky, but treasured possessions is a modest collection of Lego Star Wars ships. You've already met Legs, but allow me to introduce you to the rest of fleet:

The TIE interceptor

"Slave I" (Boba Fett's ride)

The B-wing starfighter (docked)

B-wing in "flight"

And the rest!

Sweet collection, right? 

Anyway, the first time Mike visited my old bachelor pad, this nifty array – on proud display in the living room – was among the first things he noticed (along with a badass pair of working lightsabers). I'm sure it was a curious surprise, but if he was at all troubled by a grown man showing off his collection of Legos to a first-time visitor, he didn't let on. He would later confess that although this gave him an "interesting" first impression, he was reassured by all the photos of family and friends also on display. "Oh, I get it. He's not some weird, closed-off sociopath with a toy fetish. He's just a dork." (I prefer "Dork Vader," actually.)

When Mike and I moved in together, it was decided that the Legos had to go. It wasn't that Mike had any particular aversion to displaying toy spaceships in our living room (the decision was mutual, he assured me). It was just a question of space. The new apartment wasn't that big, and with the merging of all our stuff, there wouldn't be anywhere to put the Legos. So, solemnly, I disassembled the fleet, collected its pieces in a drawer, and placed them in the closet for their indefinite exile. 

We've since moved into our current, much bigger place, but it's taken me quite a while to find the motivation to reassemble the ships. It's a time-consuming and surprisingly painstaking process. I mean really, there must be thousands of pieces involved: 

"Ages 8 and up" my foot.

But I was spurred into action when, after the decision to move was made, I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to keep my Legos. We'll have no room to display them in our new place – that's a given. But storage space, too, will likely be a precious commodity for us. True, the sets don't take up that much space, and their weight, in terms of an apartment's worth of cargo, is negligible. But when your decisions on what to keep and what to discard are measured down to the individual coffee mug, every little item counts. So I've decided it's time to let them go. Sure, it was a tough call, but this was really only a trial-run for the bigger, tougher ones that lie ahead. I'm just trying to teach my self how to "Lego" of my things.

So why, if I'm not going to keep my Lego fleet, did I take the time to rebuild it? Well, for one thing, it was easily the funnest way to organize a drawer overflowing with all those tiny, unsorted Lego pieces. I mean, if I'm giving them away (and I'm just sayin', I know a few kids who are gonna be psyched), it's probably best to have them arranged into their respective sets, no? But also, I just wanted to give the fleet one last "hurrah" before we part ways. This was a chance for me to take 'em out on a critical final mission: Allowing me to indulge in some nostalgic, Star Wars-geeky playtime. And now that I've had my fun, and taken plenty of pictures, this silly little blog-tribute is my way of saying goodbye.

It's been easy for us to become attached to our stuff. But in the end, it's only stuff. And next to our dear friends and beloved city, leaving our possessions behind will be the easy part. But by re-building these Lego sets, I've been able to build on the countless memories that I will bring with me to New York. The Legos will forever reside among my Seattle-memory touchstones, and whenever I think of them, I'll be thinking back on my time here. And with this reassurance in mind (and now that I've gone and gotten all sappy about Legos), I see that it's time, and I'm ready to let them go.

But I'm keeping the lightsabers: