In my faith tradition (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) we mark our foreheads each year on Ash Wednesday with ashes in the form of a cross saying, “Remember O man, thou art dust, and to dust thou shall return.”
The ritual, drawn from Genesis 3:19, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return” is a reminder of our mortality. I am currently unloading a lifetime of assorted video production tools now stacked floor to ceiling in my one-car garage following retirement on June 1, 2026. Does anyone need a tripod?
I’ve given some things away and sold other things for pennies on the dollar. They are items that I’m pretty sure I won’t be needing; spools of SDI/BNC cables, video recorders, cameras, and livestream switchers for example. There is still a ton of stuff that needs to go before I can get clear access to my workbench and tools.
The surprise blessing that accompanies the release of the precious tools that have provided a living wage for so many years are the stories of the young men who show up to buy my gear.
Most of the gear is sold via Facebook Market Place. I take photos, upload them with a description and price, then identify a public meeting place (the Home Depot parking lot near my house) to complete the sale.
I’ll admit it’s a bit intimidating and feels like a drug deal when I text the prospective buyer: “Meet in the Home Depot Parking lot, west side near Binny’s. I’m in a back Ford Escape.”
The meet-ups are delightful. One young man is starting an in-home production studio and was thrilled to have reels of cables that I no longer need or want. Another buyer is a U.S. Army veteran who learned photography during his service time. We had a great conversation about the US Government’s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DIVIDS) which provides news, images, audio, video, and publications from military operations around the world.
Both of our sons served in the Army and had combat deployments to Afghanistan. DIVIDS provided a vivid window into their world and allowed me the ability to see where they were working and what their units looked like. If you have a soldier, sailor or airman, do check out DIVIDS.
This former soldier was buying one of my specialized Pelican cases and was thrilled to get it for a price that he could afford.
Each time I let go of a piece of equipment I drive away feeling really good. Feeling good for the young buyer, feeling good about clearing space in my garage and feeling good about letting go of the old and welcoming something new and unexpected. It’s like a controlled burn of prairie grasses in our forest preserves. At first we see stark black ashes. Then, in due course, fresh green new growth.
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