About two months ago I read that the New York Times was looking for New Yorkers with something interesting or personal in storage. I quickly responded that my writing desk was a prop from Broadway's "Sunset Boulevard" and the irony - in that story, the writer's life ends really poorly - wasn't lost on me.
I forgot I did this. Then two weeks ago, the Times called. We had a great discussion about the desk and my new play. A week later, a photographer came and photographed me in my storage unit.
The article ran a few days ago. People have reached out from all over and my phone is only calming down now. A link to the article is here:
One of the most interesting things for me was to read the comments at the end of the article. Who knew stuff could be so divisive? Were we hoarders? Weighed down by emotional baggage? Wasting money on storage? Or, as many more comments offered, especially from those in cities, were we wonderful to honor these objects?
A lot of the emails I got loved the article because they saw themselves in it. We don't have attics, basements, extra rooms. No matter how big someone's place in a city is, every inch is used. So many friends have storage, or shared about what objects they've moved from home to home and won't get rid of.
What have you held on to and won't part with?
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