1,000 Things
Authors note: this is a reprint from an earlier version of my blog. Enjoy!
What is enough? Photo by OLDSKOOLDAVE.
I’ve recently come across the website of the 100 Thing Challenge. I’ve had an uneasy relationship with stuff for a long time. My mother did too. Before she passed away from cancer over four years ago, she could only handle one discussion regarding her stuff and the disposal thereof. (One item was her engagement ring and the other a particular coat.) When I tried to continue the discussion further, her mouth clamped shut and her lips - already thin – formed that straight line of denial. I think she believed she wouldn’t die if her stuff was still present and accounted for, and she had a lot of stuff. Some of it was expensive collectibles; it was the heartbreaking to load the auction truck with boxes of it. I watched the truck drive away and imagined the dollars floating to the sky. After a childhood of poverty, of all the things she could have done with her money, she choose to surround herself with 1,000 things.
I’ve inherited this tendency from her but it is tempered by awareness. I don’t want to be overwhelmed by things and tried to keep my level of ownership light and I thought I was doing well, until I read Dave’s blog. He says, “ I believe that run-away consumerism is making many of us narcissistic jackasses. It dulls our wits.” Yeah, Dave, got that. I know that dulled-wit feeling. I once sat outside a new LL Bean store just to be one of the first inside. By the end of the 4 hour marathon, I felt dull and witless; all I came home with was a new sweater and a bad mood. I have used the fulfillment curve from Your Money or Your Life for years to understand my comfort level with things and I have learned to ask myself before buying, “is this enough? Do I have enough?” Unfortunately, like my mother, my idea of enough will often change with my emotional state. I am now beginning to learn to ask an additional question. “Am I in the right place to ask if this is enough?” I always know the answer. You can’t avoid it.
But 100 things? Good on ya, Dave, but I’m not sure I can do it. I have my version of 1,000 things. I do live simply and do not waste my creation time on clutter, shopping, or organizing stuff; and I agree consumerism is creating a culture of mall zombies. But I am a diyer who has tools, materials and books, and I’m also a writer with a home office that is filled with books, books and more books…and then there is the clothes for 3 season living…and my athletic gear -not negotiable!
I get the point. Less stuff is less stuff, and less time needed to care for it. Less time elsewhere is more time to create, and that’s a good thing. I may never get down to 100 things but I can use this example to become more mindful of the things I do own. Perhaps I should go beyond my rule of never out-growing a designated storage space to downsizing the space or eliminating storage altogether. Or, revisit my wish list and cross-off everything that puts me beyond the sweet spot on the fulfillment curve. Thanks to a guy named Dave, I’ll remember this and keep it foremost in my mind. I hope you will too.
Less stuff ➜ Less money = more time at home ➔ more time for creating
