Stuff

So, do you like stuff?

Ralph Wiggum (The Simpsons – I Love Lisa)

You may be picking up on a theme this year. The theme of stuff. And how we could all probably benefit from having less of it. I have been looking lately at a lot of YouTube videos on the subject of minimalism and getting rid of stuff. As discussed last week it is difficult – I can’t exactly say I enjoy a challenge but I am going to go at this one.

I like the minimalist game but me being me I do it in a different way. I like the idea of doing this but randomly. I didn’t start on the 1st of January – but I have already done numbers: 1,2,3,4,5, and 15. So I have a long way to go. Since some of the items were things like receipts that have been kept for some reason – the signs of less have not yet appeared. Nevertheless there are 30 fewer items in my home now. So it is a start.

This image is what people think of when they hear minimalism. That is not what I am going for. I don’t know what I am going for. I do know that my books will be staying. Even if many of them will never be read (because I keep getting more) they are important to be for themselves. I estimate I have over 350 books. Some of those are cook books – but I estimate that if I bought no more books it would take 13 years to read them all! And that is assuming that I do very little else.

I remember hearing about the concept of owning only 100 items. Although this had a few cheats in it. I like books and also CDs so the one item could be my library or my collection. Moving house really highlighted for me just how much rubbish I had. It would be nice if the next time all my stuff, with the exception of larger items of furniture, could fit into one car. That is the ultimate plan. I have some momentum built up and I want to continue with it. And one final thought. Perhaps the most straightforward method for decluttering is when you get something new get rid of at least one thing. It will take time but soon you will have much less stuff.

…No, Ralph, I don’t like stuff.

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I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors. 

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