I started A Simple Life Project on September 6 as a personal challenge for myself to dig deep every day into what it means to choose and create a simple life in order to slow down and savor what really matters in life. Today I want to explore the issue of STUFF. Clutter. What it is. Why we have it. How it’s holding us back and what to do with it.
Now I am no professional organizer. In fact I tend to be a stuff collector. I like stuff. But why? What does it do for me? Some stuff is sentimental reminding me of special people or events. But as I face the big 5-0 birthday at the end of this year I’m really feeling the need to de-stuff my home, office and my life in general.
We recently moved out of our family home where we’d lived for 10 years and we gave away enough stuff to house a small village of homes. It was ridiculous. But do you want to know what is more ridiculous? I still have a load of stuff in my spare room and attic and garage at our new house! So, I’m on a mission.
You see, I don’t need all this stuff. In fact, this stuff is holding me back and weighing me down. Maybe someone else needs this stuff in a way that is beneficial so I can free myself AND help furnish a home for someone who does need it.
So, today I am doing something I call speed-stuff-purging. I will be armed with extra large garbage bags and boxes and I will whip through each room tossing stuff I know I don’t need into the bags and taking them to the local donation drop-off TODAY.
AND, I hereby vow to stop buying stuff unless it is something I really need.
The fact of the matter is all the excess stuff that doesn’t really mean anything to us is clogging up the flow of life for us. A clean, orderly, sparse living space just FEELS like freedom.
So ask yourself if you really need all that stuff and start getting rid of it.
