This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
Ryan Staton is opening up a storage unit in Austin, Texas.
I'm trying to make as much room as possible.
It's 10ft by 5ft with steel walls.
I'm unloading my mom's stuff.
Ryan's mom recently moved out of town and left her things with him.
That's just crap to me.
Lots of files.
She thought she would need lots of purses, probably like ten purses.
Why?
Why ten purses?
I'm a firm believer.
And just shed your skin, get rid of it and start traveling light.
But then Ryan stops.
Hes looking at a vhs tape, turning it over in his hands.
Its a recording of a tv show that he was on when he was a child.
He shakes his head.
Its so like his mom to do.
This and theres sentimental value, so its hard to get rid of.