Shedding old gear

All my old winter gear from years ago—some ten years even—are falling apart.

My North Face waterproof jacket, flaking and flapping about from the inside after the glue dried up. My Nike snow boots, laughing at me coldly as the front sole flaps to the chilling winter wind. My gloves which warmed me well through winters in Europe, now feel woefully inadequate in face of a Hokkaido freeze. The size of everything feels wrong, too short, too small, too uncomfortable.

All the old gear I thought would work well with the cold here, didn’t.
All the old gear looked functional on the outside—even after so many years, I thought—but broke down in face of real use.
All the old gear which I loved using and held on to all this while, should have been discarded years ago.

It’s time to shed old gear for new, it seems.

Likewise, this seems to be happening for my habits, attitudes, mindsets, narratives, lifestyle. For some time now.

As within, so without.

This post is not about winter gear.