a situation worthy of jane austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a lot of stuff must be in want of a husband.

A universally acknowledged truth. Why did I just find out about this truth this morning? I'm more sheltered than I ever imagined! Surely this is not as universal as I'm thinking it is. I'm writing this post firstly to explain my feelings on this matter, and secondly to get the opinion of others on the subject. Let us begin.

I had invited a friend over the other day to help me organize all of my stuff. There was just so much stuff that I felt extremely overwhelmed as to what to do with it all and where to put it to make my basement look nice and tidy. She came over, helped me so much, and my basement now looks fantastic! She did an amazing job.

I received a phone call this morning from my dear significant other (I think we need a better word for boyfriend in our language), Burns, who informed me that this friend whom I had invited over said something along these lines:

Paige has a lot of stuff. She must really want to get married.

My first reaction, being the passionate person that I am, was anger, "Who was she to judge me based on how much stuff I had accumulated over the years?" Then disbelief, "How could anyone think such a thing?" Then it turned to curiosity, "Does everyone think this?"

My pride was hurt because of her prejudice.

Now that I have taken control of my emotions, I feel safe in writing this post and now realize that this isn't as big of a deal as I had initially deemed it to be.

I have a lot of stuff, it's true. I have pretty much everything I would need to get married and start a household except maybe a bigger bed, some tools, and a couch. I have pots, pans, muffin tins, plates, utensils, cups, pizza cutters, knives, a dish rack, rags, towels, recipe books, a table and chairs, lamps, a printer, camping gear, heck I even have my own nativity set! And let's not forget about my huge spice collection. Yes, I could elope right now and have everything I need except a couch (Burns has the bigger bed and the tool box). Does having all of this stuff indicate that I am desperately in want of a husband? I had never even considered this before this morning.

How did I acquire so much stuff? Three words: sisters and roommates.
It's that simple.

Alex somehow got a hold of a lot of stuff such as plates, cups, and utensils. She got the table and chairs from my parents. Arianne lived with her, then Alex got married. The stuff was passed on to Arianne. I then lived with Arianne for a couple years, she got married, and the stuff was then passed on to me. I wish I had a little sister who I could help out and pass all this stuff on to when I get married. I got a bunch of stuff from old roommates. The thing is, I may have a lot of stuff, but it doesn't mean that this stuff is good quality and it certainly doesn't mean that it all matches. Nor does it mean that I really want a husband!

To me, having all of this stuff is practical. I needed all of it when I lived in my old house. Now that I'm in my new house, sure I don't need all of it because a couple girls have a tonne of their own stuff. To me, my stuff is a symbol of my independence. To me it means I could live on my own comfortably without a husband if I had to. I take pride in this. As for my huge spice collection, hey, I like to cook and bake when I have spare time. In my friend's words, this collection of mine is "impressive". I like to try new recipes that require spices that maybe aren't used all that much. I've had almost five years to get all of it. A few of them were spices that my old roommates didn't want or forgot about. Again, this is practical for my own interests in cooking and baking.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not at all saying that I don't want to get married. I really do! I really, really want to get married and start a life with the man I have known and loved for almost four years now. I don't want to be separated at night anymore. I want to be able to go home and do housewifey things like cook healthy meals for my husband and have a nice, clean house, and only have to deal with one man's crap as compared to multiple girls' crap like I've been doing for the last five years. I want to cuddle in complete privacy. I want to be able to leave for the weekend with Burns without having to tell anyone where we're going and when we'll be back and who's sleeping where and "remember who you are!". I want to be with Burns for Christmas! Something we have never had the privilege of doing. You married people, don't take for granted what you have. I would want all of this even if I had absolutely nothing. No stuff.

Stuff is not an indication of whether or not I want to get married.

Now that I've spilled all of my internal workings and thoughts, please let me know what you think about it. If you're married now, did having a lot of stuff mean that you wanted to get married? If you're not married, do you think having a lot of stuff is an indication of your desire to have a husband? What would you think of a man having a lot of stuff? Is this a symbol of wanting a wife or is it a symbol of wanting independence? Or neither? Or both? Let me know! I want to hear from you even if you think I would be weirded out if you commented because we don't ever talk in real life. I love comments and I'll appreciate any and all feedback that I get.

P.S. I wrote this post with complete control over my passion. Please don't interpret it like I was angry or upset. I really just want to know what other people think.