My possessions survived the wildfires that swept through Paradise, Calif., In 2018, but I wasn’t able to return home for six months. That rootless feeling comes back to me every time I worry about being displaced again by an ecological disaster.

After wildfires rolled through Paradise, Calif, I didn’t know whether to mourn or hope as I waited two months to find out whether all of my possessions had gone up in smoke. I also didn’t anticipate how much guilt I would associate with my attachments to my stuff.