I've been cleaning the house this week. I really love having a clean apartment (doesn't everyone?) and my favorite part is getting rid of stuff I don't need. I used to have such a tight grip on all my possessions until I realized they were possessing me. Recently, I've been convicted that we (Americans) have too much stuff. This is far from a new notion but it's been bugging me lately. It's very freeing feeling to know that the only things you own are things you absolutely and honestly need or love. I'm trying to get there.
Here are some of my strategies:
Swap Party: Before I moved to Texas, I threw a huge swap party where I gave away a bunch of my possessions to friends and international students. It was a lot of fun and it was nice knowing that my possessions weren't "gone" but loved by people I love.
Edit: One of the biggest challenges to purging possessions is the "But what if I need it someday" belief. How many grungy work t-shirts and jeans do you really need? How many times are you going to make an expresso or your own ice cream? Do you really think your guest is going to use those fancy soaps? They're not. Get rid of the old Stryper poster, get rid of the curtains that worked so well in your last house, get rid of ALL those magazines you said you'd use as a reference, get rid of it all. Next week you won't even notice they were gone.
Collect memories, not possessions: As a kid, my mom got rid of most of our possessions but that doesn't mean they're not still with me in my heart (aww). It's true though. God's blessed me with a great memory for the things I used to own (see the Disney post for an example) and that's enough for me. If you must keep some aspect of it, take a picture. I've tried to anticipate having to get rid of my possessions someday so I only treasure pictures and postcards. I have some small trinkets but it wouldn't hurt me if they were gone or if someone wanted it. They're just things and it will all pass away.
Anyways, those are just some of my thoughts on getting rid of stuff.
1 comments:
This is so true! I have had 6 addresses in the last 5 years, so I am constantly battling the Stuff Monster. Once a week I've been watching a show called Clean House where people with ridiculous clutter get help getting rid of all of the stuff that is taking over their lives, and it's just sad to see how hard they fight to hang on to junk. I definitely need to do some work on my t-shirt drawer; I never wear white t-shirts, so why am I keeping some so that I'll have white t-shirts? Bah! More power to you!
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