This is the time of year when I feel particularly heavy. As I pull out warmer and heavier winter clothing, I find myself feeling weighed down by my possessions. I feel a bit overwhelmed by how much I have accumulated. I realize that another season is upon us and that there are a lot of things I had intended to sort out and still haven't done. I feel that I still have way too much stuff.
WHAT ARE WE GETTING FROM ALL THIS STUFF?
IDENTITY
Understandably some of our possessions contribute to who we are, where we have been and give us an identity. They reflect the lifestyle we live, to some extent indicate our accomplishments in life, show others our taste, and, in our attire, create the first impression people have of us.
A recent television ad for online security asks, 'Where would we be without our stuff?'
Some of us occasionally even wonder whether planned obsolescence is making the whole of our society expendable; whether we really have lost our values and have become defined more by our possessions or the technology we use than by who we are and what we stand for.
North America in particular is often referred to as a consumer oriented and consuming society.
Some, maybe even most, of the money we have earned has gone/goes into buying things to make our homes and lives both more comfortable and convenient.
Buying and using things is not likely a problem by itself. It becomes one when we become defined by our possessions. What we own and keep, particularly if those things are items we never use, says a great deal about us and how we define ourselves. .
PRESERVING OUR PAST
Generally, most of our things, could be considered part of our history, part of our past. They actually might better be considered clutter, physically and also mentally. We are using valuable space and energy for what is largely a lot of useless and unused junk.
Many of us, either publicly or privately can probably admit and acknowledge that, we are buying and keeping too much stuff. In extreme cases, this accumulating of possessions becomes Hoarding; usually however, it means most of us keep boxes of things we have kept because we intend to sort them out someday. Generally, it means that a great deal of what we own doesn't get used because most of us have more than we need. In some cases, we may not remember exactly what we already have.
NEVERTHELESS, WE ARE KEEPING A TON OF STUFF
Most of us have accumulated hundreds of possessions. Among the things most of us have are clothing, memorabilia - whether trash or treasure; appliances and tools - time savers we may pretend we'll some day use; knick knacks, presents we have received, photo albums; lots of paper - whether old receipts; records we think we might need again; vast numbers of books - which we have read or intend to read. We even keep things that are broken (which we intended to repair) remnants of old technologies and a lot of 'bits and pieces'.
Suddenly we have accumulated, often literally, a ton of 'stuff'. Before you know it, we need more storage.
ARE WE AFRAID TO GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH?
Would your home become a sterile and barren 'echo chamber', too empty, if you give too much away? Maybe, at some point it might seem too empty, but right now it is probably too full.
Perhaps, however, it might instead become a place where you could read those books, enjoy beautiful things you have accumulated over the years. It might also finally become possible to really see yourself reflected in things you both love and use?
SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THIS STUFF?
Is there a way to just keep the things that we both love and use while we would sell, give away, donate or re gift the rest; or do we just rent more storage spaces or Pods and go out and buy some more?
There are many, many services offering to take 'junk' off your hands for a price. They exist obviously because, other people have the same problems with their 'stuff' that we do.
If we are bold or daring, we can pay someone to come in and take it all away; be brave and not even look. Just rid ourselves of the lot. We might do this by assuring ourselves we will feel freer, unburdened and happier. It may be a way to 'begin again' and 'make a fresh start', we might tell ourselves.
Although, I would be impressed by someone doing a purge of everything, sight unseen. In reality I can't see that many of us would not want to 'sort through our boxes' before we disposed of them.
More sensibly, eventually a time will come when we find ourselves ready to sort our possessions. When this happens, it might be wise to decide that we intend to actually purge old unused items and papers not just re box the partly sorted piles of things?
We could also call someone objective (a friend or a professional) to help us sort through our things.
Although this could apply to anything we have accumulated, it works especially well when considering clothing.
Having some help in sorting out what realize we aren't using any longer, it can also help us also to question our attachment and the usefulness of other things we have held onto for a very long time.
Whatever we no longer want or need, we can donate, sell, swap or give to our friends. What we have left will probably improve our home and be more useful to us.
At least, we will need less storage space when we are done. At worst, we may have become organized 'pack rats' with colour coded and themed storage.
Whatever our personal solutions to the problem our possessions might pose, starting today, we could lose a lot of weight and worry by purging and resorting the things we have. We might also redefine ourselves better, and more accurately reflect the life we are now living. Sounds like a plan.
Note: see another Blog - "Time to rate your priorities" from March 31,2013.
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