My body and brain feel like mush.
But I have managed to remove everything from my kitchen bookcase and give it a deep dusting treatment. My preference would be to get rid of the bookcase altogether. It's big (too big) , oak (my least favorite wood), and tends to collect way more than books, if you know what I mean. The older I get, the less I like STUFF. Books, office supplies, Lego creations, art paraphernalia. I tried to figure out where to move the shelf to, but there is no better place. It would attract stuff no matter where it landed. And it is functional where it is. I mean, we do often use the office supplies, and I to refer to my art teaching books, and it is kind of cool to display a jumbo "Dad helped me with this" Lego aircraft carrier once it's been assembled.
But oh, boy, after visiting my friend Emily's house and seeing what a clutter-free environment looks like, I am so motivated to dejunk again--with a ruthless vengeance.
Why do I have love-hate relationship with stuff? I am not nearly as sentimental as I used to be (in fact, sometimes I teeter on the cynical when I'm around saps), so I've gotten better. I can throw away the thing someone gave me without feeling I've thrown away the person.
But I am not a minimalist yet, either. I want to be.
I am far less enamored of "stuff" than I used to be, but far from where I want to be. Why do some people have a lot of clutter and others don't? Is there more to maintaining "clean and clear" surfaces than just habit? I mean, I have to be in a real MOOD to fling it in the trash or the Goodwill bag.
Please explain your view of the "stuff of life" in your experience. I don't think that having "stuff" is inherently wrong, but I long to understand how some humans manage so effectively to keep clutter to a minimum even when they admit to wanting more of whatever it is they do like in terms of stuff?
3 comments:
"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few." Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I have many cluttered thoughts about STUFF. Above is a thought from a little book I enjoy called "A Gift From the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It's my ideal. I strive for that, but stuff happens so I have to work to achieve "minimal", especially in some places. But when I do, it's a better place!
Now.
I like stuff, but I don't like it all cluttered up so I can't even see it! Remember my office desk clutter post? Well my desk is all cluttered again. (That's gonna change, Lord willing!) My desk/ office space is not where anyone has to see from the primary living area. It's where I "live" much of my time. It's where I work. Where I think... and it's where everything that has no other place eventually goes. "On my desk"! Most of it either needs to be pitched, given to Goodwill or put away. (Have I mentioned being tempted to buy something I once owned back from the Goodwill?) Ha! I've even done it. Which just goes to show that almost everything is replaceable! However, I live better without so much stuff weighing me down.
Anyway.
I digress.
A trick I've used is to box up things/books/etc. and see how well I can do without them. Amazing how much less I "need"! You don't have to pitch anything right away, but you may find that you like less to dust and NEED less to dust. Put things out that you enjoy, then circulate from a box in storage of things you're not ready to part with. As far as what you have out to look at; Less is best.
Books! Papers! Knick-knacks! Art Supplies! CDs! More books!! More papers! All these things! Ahhhhhh! Get me out from under all this stuff!!
Whew!
Thanks.
(Sorry! I haven't figured out a system for comment clutter! ;)
I too see myself cringing at stuff. My sons share a room and they have creations that they want to display and it is really hard for me to not put them out of sight. I was struggling with this just last night. I was thinking how clutter seems to cause me stress these days and removing their homemade "diaper box" creations would certainly make me feel better when I entered their rooms. Then I thought "they are only going to be 6 and 4 for a while and what is the harm?" So I don't know maybe I am being really selfish...I want to see open clutter free spaces. But then I ask what is the root of the issue here? I grew up in a family with stuff on every ledge, dresser, and spot. Only recently does it bother me.
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