I’m going to take a cue from Ken and approach the horse…
Angela and I are in the middle of doing a ton of paperwork and planning for our impending move to Portland. One of the things we’re currently shuffling is figuring out what we’re going to take with us and what we’re going to get rid of.
Few things make you more present about how much stuff you have until you start thinking about moving it across the country. We’re using a service that allows us to pack our stuff into a container and they’ll deliver it when we’re ready, but we’re being charged per every additional foot we’re using in the container.
It’s fascinating, really: when presented with the option of having to pay to keep it – because keeping it means we’ll have to pay to transport it – we’re reexamining how much value we’re getting out of stuff that we’d normally keep out of inertia. In just one day, we’ve decided to sell a bed, a couch and loveseat, patio furniture, exercise equipment, and a few other smaller items that weren’t doing anything but collecting dust.
Apparently, it’s fine for it to collect dust, but we’ll be damned if we’ll pay for it to collect dust. It’s gotta go.
The fascinating bit is that we’ve been paying for this stuff to collect dust all along, but we haven’t thought of it that way. We’ve moved it, cleaned it, stumbled over it, set it up, broken it down, thought about where to put it, stored it, and so on. Only upon having to pay for it have we reassessed that we don’t want it in the first place.
What’s true of this physical stuff is true of a lot of other Stuff. Because we’ve become comfortable with certain beliefs and perspectives, we lug them around with us. We have Money Stuck, so we hide from looking at the numbers, and we don’t change it until the costs of lugging the Money Stuck around becomes too great to bear. We have fears of rejection, so we build comfortable walls around ourselves until those wall uncomfortably strain our growth and then we decide to let those fears go. I could go on, but these are just canoes that we need to leave behind.
So, taking a holistic view of your life right now, what would you keep if you had to pay to keep it? You don’t have to be moving across the country to let it go.
This is brilliant. I’ve never thought of it this way. Thank you.
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it, Julie.
Tom and I are doing the same thing, right now. As far as stuff goes, we decided to pare down DVDs by storing them in CD holders. It’s an interesting question though.
Thanks for the thoughts!
DVD cases are a funny thing to me now since we’ve been using Netflix and Hulu for a while. I would’ve never thought to put them in CD cases – brilliant!
I would pay to keep my Car, MacBook, iPhone, camera, some clothes and a bed. The rest of it can go. About 10 years ago when I backpacked through Europe for a couple months, I realized I don’t need much to be very happy. I try and remember this when I start cleaning out my closet or other rooms in the house!
Great post, Charlie… thanks for the reminder, and good luck with the big move!!
You did the Europe backpacking thing, too? We were thinking about doing another one, but then I thought, “where would a put a laptop?”
Sad that on a 3-week cultural experience, I’d need to think about how to carry a laptop with me.
(iPad FTW! ;p)
Yep… solo, and it was AWESOME! This was back when I had to use Internet cafes to get online, but now, I’d seriously consider an iPad for a trip like that. (as you said, iPad FTW! 🙂
Only two things – my mind (along with the focus on my destiny)
second: my laptop
I’d pay premium to keep them both for as long as I can 😉
Luckily, it can be incredibly cheap to keep your mind. It seems like the less you keep and pay for, the easier it is to keep your mind. Odd, that.
I think there’s an ache in all of us to have less physical and mental clutter and more (physical and mental) space to breathe. Yet in our consumptive, throw-away world having LESS is actually a DISCIPLINE. Something we must learn and practice.
The other morning I was prepping the house to be shown (yeah, similar situations here), and I shoved an embarrassing number of shampoo bottles under the sink so that the ensuite looked less cluttered.
Funny thing happened though. I LEFT most of those bottles under the sink and decided to just keep, you know, ONE or TWO shampoo choices in my shower.
It was enough.
What’cha going to do with all that shampoo, Karri? ;p
We generally try to get rid of at least one thing a day, and, like any other habit, it’s hard to start but easier to maintain. It’s just interesting to be actively throwing things away and still have so much more that keeps coming through the front door.
Exactly! The revolving door of consumption. (Oh there are so many applications here …)
When people get all Nazi about recycling I want to say “Why don’t you just buy less shit to begin with?”
Ohhhh, yes. I know this topic–through the perspective of many different lenses–very, very well.
When we moved last June, we donated more than HALF of the physical belongings possessed at that time by our family of four (plus canine child).
I’m amazed at the dollar value those donation slips are providing in a tax write-off, especially since the valuations used in that respect are significantly less than we PAID for the items.
And it’s also awesome how our larger (but not larger than we need) home turned out to be an even nicer, more spacious, and much more easily maintained space because of all that we shed when moving.
All that said, since you know me well, you also know that I’m a huge fan of facing and sorting through the emotional baggage we’re carrying around with us all the time, most often unconsciously, without realizing how much it’s mucking up aspects of our lives and businesses that are, ultimately, super important to us.
So yes – shed that stuff and you’ll save money on moving costs, while also giving yourselves an awesome head-start on settling into your new space with ease and grace!
And, you’ll be flexing that muscle of pro-active examination of things that are taking up space without you really wanting them to! 🙂
Awesome topic, Charlie!
Ah yes, brilliant — I haven’t moved in a while, and my husband is finally starting to embrace this attitude (no, dear, I don’t think you’ll use your Class of ’92 college notes, or not all of them!) I do have a secret dream (well, not anymore!) to be nomadic for a while, and keep to the notion of getting rid of one item per day, minimum, too! 🙂
It does amaze me how anxious I feel in the cluttery rooms…
I forgot to share what I’d pay to keep, if I had to pay to keep it…
I learned that what matters most to me are my people (beloved family members), my dog, and any physical objects that allow me to be my best self, take care of my family to the best of my abilities, and serve the world.
So I kept (and paid to move) everything that fit into that big picture of intention, viewed from the point I was at in the present moment, and nothing more.
Shedding the extra stuff made it easy to know that the move was well worth what we paid, and turned out to be an invaluable act in so many other ways as well.
I remember when I could fit everything I owned in my car. God, I miss those days.
I remember when I decided to come back to Ontario while my first husband stayed in Seattle. I took a suitcase of clothes and nothing else. It was very freeing, and a bit unhinging. When I began to rebuild my life, as soon as I could afford to, I went back for my books and music. I took them all, all 9 boxes, and paid the freight.
LOL, we just went through this whole dilemma last month. We weren’t moving across the country, but still paying to move and into a much smaller house at that. I sold and donated tons of things that I had thought that I couldn’t live without when I bought them.
The whole thing has been exhilarating and ultimately motivating. The urge to live with less has also led me to focus on what I really needed to be doing to achieve my other goals. Take that, you bloated rss reader and overflowing email inboxes!
Hi Charlie.
It is a good item for re-framing to think about things we do in terms of their costs. I know that I do things that don’t make sense financially, and they aren’t intended to have much value otherwise, so that is no good. Running more of our lives like a business can cut away waste.
You got some good viewpoints out of the requirement of paying for each foot of items. Payment wakes us up to what we are doing.
Wow, what an intriguing way to look at things. My first instinct was to just look around at everything and ponder. But then I just made a top 5 list. And after that, using your criteria, I could come up with little else, besides my basic clothes etc. Changed my perspective immediately. Thanks so much Charlie for always getting us to think!
Well, Charlie, good for you and Angela.
Great that you’ve decided to de-clutter.
I have had issues with clutter in the past, but I have come a long way, baby just like the ad.
Since ancient times, wise people have always lived with few material possessions.
In the East, materialism is equated with illusion. No sense in hanging on to illusions.
I have been inspired by the life and times of people like Thoreau, Emerson, Gandhi, Dalai Lama, and so many, many others.
That’s why I have donated most of my stuff to charity. Or, sold it off to business.
Now, finally, I have started to have some peace of mind, because I did not need the garbage to begin with. I can do with less.
My best wishes, as always, to you and Angela on your transition to Portland. Stay safe out there and don’t let the weather get you down. Chin up and chill out. Cheerio!
A recent meme on many organization and decluttering sites is the “100 things challenge” in which you try to get your “stuff” down to 100 items each. It can be very liberating, to say the least.
As for your travel in Europe–it is quite possible to travel for 3 weeks with a small laptop or netbook only using what you can carry on the plane–no checked baggage at all. I suggest starting with http://www.onebag.com to learn how this is not only possible but very practical.
A benefit of the reduction of “stuff” is that you have less to clean, less to trip over, and your home will be much more spacious after de-junking your life. The temptation is to keep it that way. One method–don’t buy anything new unless you are resolved to get rid of an equal number of items you already have.
Good luck!
I’m moving from Singapore to England next month and am leaving 13 years of everything behind except my favourite books, computer, art supplies, some clothes and, of course, my four children, who were born here and know nothing of life on the other side of the world! I’m scared $*!}le$$ actually but am about to become Superwoman if Nietzsche is to be believed.
I’d pay to keep my survival skills, not necessarily the physical ones.
For physical objects, I’d pay to keep my 1981 HP 41CV calculator with which I pulled my first all-nighter, learning to use it from 6 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. the next day and on which I wrote my first serious programs. I’d also keep the 1984 Commodore Vic-20 on which I wrote the bulletin board that got me my first job as a programmer.
I’d pay to keep the backups of my computer, my 30 best slides that I’ve put in a separate box to grab in case of fire and one week’s worth of clothes.
This is soooo goooood!
We moved from MI to AZ 3 years ago and sold or gave away sssssssooooooo much.
Now unexpectedly we’re moving again. There are some dishes ( I use do entertain more) that I brought here and have collected dust for 3 yrs. I was just telling someone I’m not moving them again and they actually talked me out of it. Nope…not paying for them to collect dust!
@Tess–
Why not just *use* the dishes? If they’re “good enough for company” aren’t they good enough for you, too?
I fail to understand the logic of not treating yourself and your family as “special” with something as simple as dishes that you already own. Personally, I’d look at the two sets and get rid of the set you like least. Just remember “We’re worth it!”
I totally agree.
If something is not a blessing for you in your house and you keep things you don’t need, you need to give it away.
When you give something away you don’t need it turns into a blessing for someone who does needs it.
I also have found that when I am generous like that and give things away, things I need have a way of coming to me.
Funny thing, I was just thinking about this recently.
I live in university accommodation, so I’ll have to move out, and take all my stuff with me, at the end of June. I’ll be putting my stuff into storage and taking it back next year, so I’ll probably keep most of it.
But the year after, I’ll be moving out of England, and I’ve already started thinking about what to do with all the stuff. My main concern is – books! I’ve only been in the UK two years, and already I’ve amassed some 50-100 books. Most of them pure brilliance. But I won’t be reading most of them again, I read most books only once.
Now that you got me thinking about it, maybe I’ll start getting rid of some of the stuff even this June! That way I won’t have to transport so much to the storage and back 🙂
I’ve used this analogy with my clients. Although they realize that paying for off-site storage of stuff they don’t use is a silly expense, it doesn’t always occur to them that a guest room filled with excess stuff is also costly. It’s a sizeable portion of your mortgage or rent.
Sometimes they’re using a corner of the dining table as their home office, while the boxes of who-knows-what have a room to themselves!
that’s a good post on minimalism , i have things that i must get rid of too, thanks for the reminder 🙂