Pompeii

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Today at about 5pm, I was thinking about Pompeii.  Pompeii is an Italian city near Mt. Vesuvius that was extinguished in a few hours in August 79AD.  The volcano erupted and everyone was killed.  Food still on the table, work unfinished.  Pompeii and her sister city, Herculaneum are two of the most important archaeological discoveries ever.  After careful excavation, historians can determine exactly what life was like in the first century.

I wondered what historians would think if they discovered our city under the same conditions.  What would they think that life was like in the 21st century by going through our home?  Do my surroundings reflect what I think is important?  Is it evident what I treasure?

So, I decided to stop what I was doing and take pictures of some of the spaces in our home.  For better or worse - here's what would have been found in my home on this day in the 21st century.

Our room - bed is made! Still hadn't put away nap mats and cribs from this afternoon dirty laundry.

Kitchen, of course - sink full of dishes, every cabinet hanging open.

Living Room, not to bad...toys all over and general disarray - lots of DUST.

Kids Room - Disaster zone!!  I actually cleared a spot to read books to them earlier!
So, I don't know what my house would tell future historians about our world.  They might think that we didn't have any time to clean...it appears that way from MY house.  But maybe judging from all the toys and books and at least 5 visible spaces for small children to sleep - they would think that we valued our children.  Maybe because of ALL the toys and books, they would think we simply valued stuff.

One of my missions during the two week break from school is to de-clutter our home a little more.  If we are honest, there is only about 60% of our "stuff" that gets used on a regular basis.  Another 20% is likely seasonal, and I'd be willing to bet at least 20% of our stuff could straight disappear and we'd never know the difference.

I think our clutter is a sign of pride.  We collect things that we don't even care about, just to say we have it.  None of our stuff is even that good!  I've been systematically ditching a bag of toys whenever I can and the kids have yet to notice.  Something wrong there.

What do you think?

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