I watched the movie, "Minimalist" the other night and it really did a number on me. I realized I have way too much stuff. Now I'm not looking to have a home stripped down to the bare bones, but I do need to declutter my life. The movie gave a challenge to get rid of one thing each day that doesn't add meaning to my life. That's an achievable goal!
On average, Americans have 300,000 items in their homes. That seems ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure I'm over that number. How crazy is that? Most of the items aren't used on a regular basis and are simply taking up space in closets, attics or storage units. Luckily, we got rid of our storage unit years ago, so that beast has been slain, thank the Lord. We cleaned out closets at the beginning of quarantine, so it shouldn't be so hard, right? Wrong. We only touched the surface.
I realized while watching the movie that I have stuff that I've kept "just in case". I have cookie cutters that I've kept for baking with my future grandchildren. That's insane. They'll probably be all rusty by then, and I'll have to get new ones anyway. I think that might be the first thing I put into the donate box!
Why do we keep things we don't need and clutter up our lives? Are we holding on to things because we're afraid we'll forget a memory if we don't have the trinket to remind us? Are we storing items because someone special gave it to us and if we got rid of it, it might offend them? Did I keep the cookie cutters to help ensure that I would have grandchildren one day? That's really deep, but I did major in psychology for two years, so there's that.
Anyhoo - I'm beginning the challenge TODAY. I've got my empty box and those old cookie cutters are going in first. I haven't used them in over 10 years, so I'm not going to miss them at all. I've read that there will be a little anxiety in the beginning, a fear of letting go. I'll let you know as I progress down this new road to minimalism.
