Why Oh Why?
Why do we acquire too much stuff? The more space you have, the more you will cram it with stuff. If you aren’t familiar George Carlin’s act on stuff, you should. It is spot on. Watch it on YouTube (censored version). It is so easy with all the marketing around us. We make an impulse buy and we either regret it or it gets stashed away and forgotten.
Too many clothes, too many pieces of furniture, too many kitchen gadgets, and too many electronic devices. And I’m not even talking about my fabric and yarn stash. All this stuff adds to mental clutter and messes with our priorities. We end up spending more time taking care of things instead of ourselves and others.
When I try to find a certain shirt and I go hanger by hanger wrestling as I go. How many blue shirts do I need? Are there clothes that don’t fit in your closet? Clothes with the tags still on them? I’m guilty of all the above but it gives me a starting point. And I’m getting rid of most of my clothes.
Open a drawer in your kitchen looking for a spatula and you dig through so many gadgets you’ve used exactly once or never. I found two packages of nutcrackers I never opened. Three rolling pins, why three? I have gadgets I don’t know what they are for! I use the same things every day. So that’s what I’m keeping.
I stashed old, unused electronics in a closet. I still have the modem from an old and crappy satellite internet I had to endure for a short time. There are old out-of-date DSL modems sharing space with old routers and a huge tangle of Cat-5 cables. Why do I have phone cords? I disconnected the landline years ago. That all has to go.
It Has To Go
I’m starting to de-clutter slowly. Sorry, Marie Kondo. Your method is too stressful for me. I appreciate the idea if something does not spark joy, let it go. But I’m not tearing my house apart to get there. I’m happy to let things go as I live my life. I open a drawer and see 3 rolling pins, I pick one and put the other two in a box for the thrift store. We have to find what works for us. But the goal is the same — simplicity — to clear our minds.
Five banker boxes of excess went to Goodwill on Friday. That is just two weeks of slow decisions. Some from my closet, the kitchen, and small furnishings sent out the door. I keep a box accessible. Those Amazon boxes are usable now and I’m getting rid of them too!
Have you read Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and did you carry out her method? Do you need to join an online challenge to motivate you? Let me know in the comments.
