Lately I've been addicted to looking at tiny houses and reading about minimalism. I'm begging to feel weighed down by all my stuff.
For example, I have books on my shelf that I know I will never read again. Books like the beauty myth by naomi wolf (that i somewhat pretensiously used to give women as a 21st present). It was a great book a book that made me look at life in a new way but I will almost definitly not read again. But, I tell myself it "says something about me". It's a memory of something that was a turning point in my life. No one is going to walk out of my house saying "at first i thought you were a shovanist pig but then i had a look at your book shelf..." For what it's worth I may as well pass it on to someone and then photo copy the spine on to a packet soup box and stick that on my shelf.
And so it goes to other areas in the house. A jacket that I used to wear to work, not something I'll wear out but a good smart casual kind of look when you're wearing a shirt but not a tie.
Like the book I keep items like these because they might one day come in handy. Usually I think "I might be able to pass this onto someone one day". One day when Libraries no longer exist and when opshops won't exist. Opshops were me and a hundred other poeple have donated jackets like mine.
After a fairly sizeable cull of stuff about 6 months ago. I'm looking at stuff that I thought then was to valuable to just give away or sell. But it's just stuff taking up space. Stuff that reflects who I am as a person. Which is great if I'm not around or if I'm likely to forget who I am. But that's not going to happen.
For example, I have books on my shelf that I know I will never read again. Books like the beauty myth by naomi wolf (that i somewhat pretensiously used to give women as a 21st present). It was a great book a book that made me look at life in a new way but I will almost definitly not read again. But, I tell myself it "says something about me". It's a memory of something that was a turning point in my life. No one is going to walk out of my house saying "at first i thought you were a shovanist pig but then i had a look at your book shelf..." For what it's worth I may as well pass it on to someone and then photo copy the spine on to a packet soup box and stick that on my shelf.
And so it goes to other areas in the house. A jacket that I used to wear to work, not something I'll wear out but a good smart casual kind of look when you're wearing a shirt but not a tie.
Like the book I keep items like these because they might one day come in handy. Usually I think "I might be able to pass this onto someone one day". One day when Libraries no longer exist and when opshops won't exist. Opshops were me and a hundred other poeple have donated jackets like mine.
After a fairly sizeable cull of stuff about 6 months ago. I'm looking at stuff that I thought then was to valuable to just give away or sell. But it's just stuff taking up space. Stuff that reflects who I am as a person. Which is great if I'm not around or if I'm likely to forget who I am. But that's not going to happen.
1 comment:
Rather than hang onto something because someone I know might need it someday, I find it helpful to think that someone looking through an opshop might need it right now.
I can't remember the exact quote or who said it, but I have heard a quote along the lines of "if I have more than I need, I have things belonging to someone else". Really wish I could remember the exact quote! That sentiment helps me let go of a lot of material goods.
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