I have a lot – by any normal standard I am blessed. Listing what I have would be pointless and take an inordinate amount of time. So, let us just leave it at that for now.
The real question is, “Am I using it?”… everything that I have, that is. This thought struck me over the last few weeks while in “yard-sale frenzy”. Of course, one is always slightly befuddled by everything we have accumulated over time. The late George Carlin’s famous routine on “Stuff” really hits it on the head – we can’t help but accumulate stuff. But do we really use all this stuff we have?
I know I don’t. But, I want to change that… and here’s the rub… if I actively use everything I have it would take eons before I’m done. Think about it… if you mentally lined up everything you have and say spent 5 minutes using each and every one… how long would that take?
The logical solution would be to discard or give away the stuff one doesn’t use and only keep what is. Tough to do. Only because we will use logic against itself every time with perfectly reasonable excuses like, “What if I need it sometime down the line… then what do I do?” This of course always crops up when contemplating what to throw or give away.
Of late I have been making the effort not to capitulate to that kind of insidiousness. (Yeah… good luck, right?) Not fueled by some pseudo evangelical fervor but with a simple practical approach. I take note of the things I use… and when I come across something I haven’t for a while I think back to the last time I did. If it has been more than a year and a half – it goes. (Yes, this factors in the “seasonal use” quotient.)
Yeah, it is a minuscule step… but at least it is a step.
In the meantime… enjoy a bit of Mr. Carlin’s routine. Cheers and Happy Tuesday.
Lydia
June 2, 2010 at 10:44 am
This is exactly why I joined an online therapy group for OCD hoarding that I found here: http://www.ocfoundation.org/
Slow process, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel…
Debi
June 2, 2010 at 3:31 pm
People get on me for being what they call a minimalist”. I do the same thing though. Probably why everything I own can fit in the back seat of a car lol. But hey, I work and i’m hardly home so when am I gonna use “stuff”? And where there’s stuff, there’s stuff to clean so no way! Less is good
lime
June 3, 2010 at 7:32 am
recently i am having the “urge to purge” as my mother puts it. this makes her proud since i was a terrible hoarder of junk as a kid. she’d make me go through everything at least twice a year and get rid of things. it was an agonizing process.