The new year seems like a good time to destuffify your life...

I'm pretty good about throwing away crap I know I'll never need or care about... my father is the opposite, I think he has that pack-rat disease where he keeps every little thing.

I've got a couple drawers and boxes full of stuff... little league baseball hats, old keychains, yearbooks, an american flag my grandma gave me...

I was wondering where should I draw the line? Would I regret it if I tossed/goodwilled ALL this unecessary stuff?

Have any of you completely freed yourselves from all your stuff? Was it a good decision?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2007 02:54AM by jono.

I have let go of so much stuff you'd be amazed. I also though have been fortunate that I had a family that stored my most precious things, like photos, my kids baby books, etc. Not much though and often I would think of all the families that have lost all their things in disasters including their photos and keepsakes. So, even at that..I don't think at my age it would devastate me if I lost even those things now.

Losing loved ones is much more difficult of course, but even that is put into perspective, although I have not lost a child except thru a non-viable pregnancy which so far is one of the hardest things I've gone thru.

I think that if you question whether to keep something or not, and it's got sentimental value you may regret later that you simply discarded it. Save those things even if stored while you are out doing your adventures. But giving things to needy people, charities of your choice, letting stuff go is freeing and it feels great to help out others also.

Keeping things out of fear is an obsession and hording is a compulsive practice and one that is probably hard to break. Going in the exact opposite direction due to your upbringing if it's extreme may also be a type of control issue.

Here's what my dad said once to me when I was selling off some goods to get to Ca. when I was younger. I had sold a lot, made about $1000 and it came time to sell a somewhat sentiamental item but there was no reason to keep this particular item. A young family already had purchased a dresser, bed, etc..and were really tapped out and I wanted too much for the item they would give to their young son. My dad said, oh let them have it, they aren't rich, they bought your old dresser, etc..so I gave them the item. I look back on that and it taught me so much about letting go, and at the same time feeling good about doing it. I often now do it, just to remember my dad saying that to me. It's a good memory of him.

Love,
Prism

In my experience, the less material possessions I have, the more free and happy I feel.

Sometimes I look at animals (birds, squirrels) and I am a bit envious that they have no possessions.

Cheers.

Attachment leads to jealousy.
The shadow of the Dark Side of the Force.
Beware, my young padawans.

Should stuff be kept? If you do not LOVE the item, or the item does not serve a FUNCTION... in my 800 sq. ft. house, it's gotta go!

it has taken us almost 2 weeks to destuffify after Christmas. I can't help but resent the ammount of TIME this takes, and how much I have been neglecting our son ,because Christmas presents take SO MUCH TIME to integrate into our already overstuffed home (one of the reasons I DREAD the holiday season!)

I too use the end of the New Year's to go through everything. We had to buy 5 - yes 5 - 18-gallon tubs to store the toys my son received (and got rid of 4 55 gallon bags of "old toys" - keep in mind my kids' only 9 months!) - mainy bulky plastic T.V. character battery-operated talking toys. The kicker of it is, we refuse to own a TV - and our whole family knows this, so I wonder why they bought TV characters? We also got not one, but TWO baby walkers. And giving stuff away "to someone in need" would go over like a lead ballon. ugh. So we have two baby walkers in the largest place in our house - our 10x10 living room. He takes literally three steps and he crashes into the other side of the room. Another friend bought me a countertop dishwasher even though I have made it very well known that I prefer to do dishes by hand (so I can have the countertop space) and it has been extremely dificult to prepare food in the 2 ft. of counterspace this has left.

I know... complain complain complain! I love my friends and family, but I want so bad to have a simple look to my home, like the ones you see in magazines like "Simple Living." Everyone in the family is clutterbugs though, and they just can't see why I want to "get rid of nice things," or "not have all the modern conveniences."

I keep things for a while, until the giver (if a gift) sees that I have used it, but my own stuff I get rid of mercilessly. I can't STAND clutter! Drives me bonkers!

Ok - thanks for letting me rant [breathing deeply, feeling gratitude].

Angie

some questions that help me decide what to do with stuff.

do you need it?
do you love it?
does it make you money?

with clothes the question is "do i wear it?" if the answer is "no" or "i might" or "someday" i pass it along.

i feel that we don't own things, they actually own us and we spend a lot of time time and money housing and taking care of them as though they are our children. it can get a bit ridiculous actually.
i have gotten rid of nearly everything more than once for travel and moving purposes and what a relieving feeling that is to let it all go. increased the serenity in my life by about a thousand percent! until i felt i needed something or came across some irresistable item and then the cycle starts all over again.

one thing i will do is keep stuff like old pictures and key chains and nifty little objects for art projects. it can be fun to collage-ify that stuff, sometimes i "install" it in random public places too, that's fun. often people will add to and take things away from that kind of project. i have a friend who leaves random photographs in bus shelters and bathrooms and other places. it's so strange and wonderful to come across something like that, especially when you can tell that it's deliberate. makes you think.

I freed myself from all my clothes the other day and took a sea-water bath.
Ok, let's see what I feel about that:


Dear God,
Thank you.

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