I think that my stuff has reproductive capabilities – especially my shoes, clothes, handbags and accessories. And I think that my stuff is particularly horny and rabbit-like. Our new closet shelving gets installed in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, my stuff is spread all over the house creating a thickening, sickening, stifling layer on every surface that we own. It feels like we are being overtaken by The Blob.
Our piano, I believe, is still somewhere under the pile of shoes. We haven’t heard from it in a while. (honestly, we haven’t heard from our piano in a long while, since even before it was covered with shoes, but that’s for a whole different blog) Our dining room table is probably buckled under the weight of handbags and blouses. I don’t know. I haven’t seen it in about a month. I am truly shocked that a fire hasn’t started, because the stuff is piled so high, on top of the table, that the top layer is melted on to the chandelier.
I’m honestly not a hoarder. I give a lot to Goodwill and to the veterans. I have the tax receipts to prove it. I don’t get particularly sentimental about most of my things. I totally buy into the whole Marie Kondo (famous Japanese organization guru) idea that if something doesn’t “spark joy” in you anymore it is time to pass it on to someone who might find some sparkle of joy, by owning it. That’s why I think that my things are breeding and propagating. That is where all of the accumulation is coming from, I believe.
Now my husband would probably chime in here and say that if my theory is true, my things’ method of propagation is assisted by my shopping habits. He would say that their fertilization is highly assisted. I couldn’t argue that point, in good faith. So right now, I want to force myself to simmer in this feeling of suffocation and claustrophobia, in order to keep my future shopping habits in check.
We aren’t one of those families who has lived in the same house for 25 years. No, we have actually gone through 4-5 major moves and more than one major renovation. These have been good, solid cleansing opportunities that we have taken full advantage of, over the years. That is why I am truly shocked that we still have SO MUCH STUFF. That is why I believe that my stuff has reproductive capabilities. And that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.
I want to move just so I can purge the crap out of my house. 😉
It is daunting, yet cleansing all at the same time. Maybe I should have said no to renovations and just moved again. LOL
We did an unintentional renovation last summer (started with a plumbing flood) that required us to remove 90% of our possessions from the house. We erected a “portable garage” in the backyard to store all our boxed stuff, which I lovingly refer to as the circus tent. It’s literally been more than a year, and probably 60% of our stuff is still in the tent. As far as I’m concerned, if we haven’t touched it in a year, we don’t need it. Every few weeks I discover that I need something and I rummage through the boxes until I find it, at which time it moves back into the house and becomes useful again. The only exceptions to this policy are my Ugg boots, my lime green suede cowboy boots, and my summer shorts, none of which I’ve been able to locate. Seriously, it’s like an Indiana Jones quest to find those items.
Last weekend I helped a single friend move from the home she shared with her husband (deceased) into a house half the size. She literally spent months purging, and she did a damn fine job. However, as I was unpacking her kitchen, I counted 13 frying pans! Who NEEDS 13 frying pans?? I know professional chefs who own 3 pans. According to them, that’s all you really need. But I digress. The point is that sometimes we hold on to things that don’t serve us anymore for sentimental reasons. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you have the space and the extra stuff doesn’t become a burden. It’s when you become a slave to your stuff that the problems begin. My husband doesn’t want to let go of bikes that he hasn’t ridden since our son was 6 years old. (He just turned 20 last week.) I keep telling him that’s why God invented cameras, so he can look at photos of his young, fit self and be proud of what he accomplished. No need to have the bike hanging from the garage ceiling, because that just makes him feel guilty that he’s not using it. Better to donate it to an organization that supplies needy kids or college students with bikes and know that it has a good home and is being used and appreciated as it was intended. I’m with you on recycling and/or upcycling as much stuff as possible!
I have to confess that I would never get accused of having too many cooking tools. 13 frying pans blows my mind, but I am very sure that your friend is a better cook than me.
We rented one of those PODS during a renovation of a previous home. You are right, we ended up pitching/purging/donating about 90 percent of what we paid to have stored in the POD for nine months. LOL