So here we are. Most of us just shelled out over $700 for Christmas presents – sure, that’s down slightly from previous years but it still means something on the order of five to 75 new objects joining the parade of crap that comes into our lives.
The neat freaks among us manage to prioritize and purge, clearing out their closets and donating stuff to charities where it either goes back on the market locally or gets baled and shipped abroad where our cast-offs compete against local industries in third world countries. The rest of us simply collect more junk until there’s no place else to stash the junk and it goes into storage.
Self-Storage Is Storage for Your “Self”
One of the things that makes it tough to let go of our crap is that we confuse what we own with who we are. As if that’s not bad enough, the brain interprets parting with belongings the same way it interprets physical pain.
For me personally it looks like 2014 is going to be a tough year. I’ve maxed out our closet space and garage storage and now I have my mother’s belongings to deal with. And the cost of storage is quickly going to add up to more than the stuff is worth.
The Trouble with a Cluttered Mind
The problem with clutter is that every time you see a pile of unordered junk your mind wants to start processing it and it saps energy from the task at hand. For me personally it has gotten to the point where it is difficult to navigate my space and find stuff I want. But I think there is another problem – all this clutteration becomes an identity issue – I don’t know who I am or where my focus should be because there are simply too many options.
2014 The Year of Living Dangerously
De-crapification has got to be my next big project if I want to keep my sanity and move ahead with my life. I don’t really have a plan. I accept that it’s going to be painful. And we’ll see how this adventure goes.
[Image: Florian Klauer via Unsplash]
