so many people have said to me “i could not do what you are doing….i have too much stuff!”…..trust me, years ago i was the typical american consumer and i had far more than my share of “stuff”…when i moved back to the states after three years in japan, the packers kept saying “you open store in america?”….
the amount of stuff i had was obscene….and that was only what was in japan!…i came back to the states faced with a whole storage house full of the thngs i had left behind for the duration of my time overseas!….
back stateside, acquisition continued….in defense, i would say most of it was material to create in any of the myriad media i utilized for my creative endeavors and the resulting art….and a lot of it was given away as gifts….my home still had a museum quality about it….lots of nic-nacs collected from here and there – of course all interesting and all with a story…..then there were all the items i had handcrafted which covered the walls and other surfaces….i had a goal set for myself to cover every surface in my three story house with crochet…trust me, by the time i moved out 16 years later, i had almost succeeded….
it seems i collected *everything*…. unicorns and chickens and eggs and ceramics…..sets of dishes and serving pieces and flatware to serve fabulous food to guests at parties (which mostly failed to materialize)…..clothes to wear to these parties, and out on the town to social events (which mostly did not happen)…..additionally, i saved every.thing.my.kids.ever.did – literally…i had years of their schoolwork packed away in the beautifully papered tea boxes from japan…i had all their baby clothes, all their toys, including hand wood-worked items my father had made for them. – cradles, rocking horses, wood toys….i had every kitchen gadget there ever was, and i had lots of pots and pans and baking equipment for every possible food item which can be prepared…..i was the queen of holidays – so many ways to decorate for the different holidays, and fabulous things to make by hand to boot!…and if there wasn’t a holiday?… well, decorations for the season!….i think you get the picture?….i had so many boxes of things, i spent countless hours going through them to find what it was i was looking for at any given holiday or time of year….
and then the boxes of “necessary” paperwork – bank statements, tax returns, school records, medical records…..on and on….
yes, my house looked like a museum – granted, a pretty cool, eclectic museum – certainly not approaching a hoarding situation….still….
and then, one year, i was faced with something i thought would never happen….i was attending a church, and their position is that christmas, easter and pretty well every holiday but st. patrick’s day is not ” christian” (and i have to agree with them….jesus was not a christian and did not celebrate christmas or easter and i no longer believe those holidays are done to “honor”him….and that is the topic for another post – maybe!)….
in the church i was attending, because these holidays are considered pagan, the decorations for them were considered idols….of course, i wanted nothing to do with idols or paganism!….what to do with all my lovely, and some very costly decorations?…i could have a yard sale….i would only recoup a little of the money spent on the items or materials used in making them, and of course none of the hours spent in crafting them…..and i could not stand the thought of profiting off of idols….to say nothing of the unsuspecting soul who purchased them!…i would be contributing to their worship of idols!….i think the final convincer was an ad i saw in a harriet carter catalog (yes, i received a plethora of catalogs of that ilk)…the ad was for an outside light to shine a stencil picture of santa claus and three other interchangeable pictures on your garage door…the leader for the ad was ” be the envy of your neighborhood!…(yep, that is what christmas is all about!)…..so, after careful consideration, i decided everything, and i mean all the holiday items, would go out to the curb for garbage collection….once i made up my mind, there was no stopping me, and like a madwoman i cleaned everything related to holidays out of my house….i did keep seasonal items…..
that year, 2003, was the first year i did not celebrate christmas – ever….and i did not miss it at all….i would go to the store and see people with their christmas lists for food or gifts or decorations and hear them comment on how they hated christmas and all the work it was and their resentment of having to buy christmas gifts…on a some occasions, i commented “you don’t have to do that” and the response was always a yelled – yes, i do!….
so, i learned to keep quiet about it….and i observed the freedom i had – from what i had really been a slave to – the food, the decorations, the gifts, shopping the sales….it took not doing it to see the slavery of it….
and so it continued over the years….different events were the catalyst for my jettisoning different types of items,,,,,realizing i would probably never grandchildren, and my sons not wanting any of he things i had saved (no, not even the collections of special christmas tree ornaments i had so thoughtfully collected since their first ever christmas! – what a dagger in my heart *that* was – briefly) was the impetus for donating all their things of use to local charities and throwing away the rest, and the tattered, torn, yellowed papers and projects were great starters for warm fires in the illinois winter….
without fail, after cleaning out whatever layer i was working on at the time, i noticed a sense of freedom i had not had for a long time….if ever….
the beginning of this year, 2014, saw me downsizing even more…i chose to live in a space half what i had for the last 2 1/2 years….i was amazed at how much stuff had found its way in to the 32foot bus which was my home….once again, i became ruthless about winnowing…haven’t used it in a year – it is outta here!…i still have far more than will fit in to my 17foot travel trailer, of which only 14 feet is the living space – for some reason, the tow tongue is included in the length of the trailer….i have a truck which i use, as planned, for storing some items, though one day, i would like to have the back seat empty so i can haul passengers…for now, though, it is home to my pattern books and other books i am unready to part with….and, there is the added bonus of the storage items being a perch for my rescue pups when we are on the go!….they love being up high and able to see out the window!…
the most recent aspect of minimizing has been to more consciously work on not bringing new items, or even new to me items, into my life…i look at an item and ask myself in what way it will enhance my life….is there another item i already have which will do the job the new item is touted to do…do ii need it, or want it…….if i do acquire something new, i find an item to donate somewhere…..i have broken the habit of visiting thrift shop just to visit and see what bargains i can find….i saw fully how i justified buying things because they were inexpensive……i now choose only those things which truly will had value to my life – usually utilitarian…i certainly have enough beauty in my life with the richness of experiences and the places i have seen, and the loving, uplifting relationships i choose to populate my life with….beauty which is lasting, as it is kept in my heart….the best things in life really are not things….
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