Messy excess + the desire to create.

Hi ali
I know what you mean about excessive belongings. After the convention in Sydney,I was fortunate enough to go on a week away with my hubby Pete and dog Monty.
We shared one suitcase and had a very happy relaxing week away. We asked ourselves when we got home why do we need so much stuff and we were quiet content with the little belongings we had with us. So now we are going to have a spring clean.....what is it with holidays, getting away with the miminalist and comming back home to stress to cleaning out the suff .....what is that??? Scrapbooking allows you, unfortunately, to collect more STUFF....LOL
(I am done now - sydney) Debra

i am in the process of moving into my first apartment...buying new things as i toss out the old. it seems so strange - it feels so damn good to get rid of things that i no longer have a need for [or never needed in the first place], but then buying more and more and more to make my house a home. it can be tough to find a nice balance, but feeling good in your own skin and home is the best possible outcome.
if you ever want to ship off some of your excess scrap staff to a second-hand loving gal, just drop me a line! :) your love of purging could go hand in hand with my joy of loving something that brought the previous owner happiness.
peace.
*

Did you hit a nerve or what?!
There's something quite liberating and cathartic when you let go of unnecessary 'stuff' whether it be physical or psychological. The question is how to keep both houses clean...Process and Time...A constant survey over our inventory an awareness of our impulses...and substition with healthy alternatives. Mastery would put SO many therapists out of business!!
Nice to have you back...

Ali, I am right there with you regarding the excess thing. I have too much stuff also. It feels so good to get rid of things. I should do it more often...before it all gets so ridiculously out of hand. I had one garage sale already this summer and it didn't even make a dent. Should have another one, but I am such a great procrastinator that it probably won't happen. I become exceptionally charitable at times like these and can find tons of stuff to donate. Good luck with your excess stuff.

Not to long ago I felt like this and there went 8 garbage bags with good clothes and toys to a good cause.....and still I need to clean out more. I feel I can breath better, live better, see better without the choas, that these things created. Love your entry Ali, love it!
corinnexxx

A year after Katrina and we are gearing up for another hurricane. We will probably lose "stuff" again from storm damage. But when you are sitting in the dark and sweltering heat, the only things that matter are the important things. Stuff becomes a non-issue. Here we go again. When it is all over, we will but more stuff-maybe for comfort.

It's so interesting how, as I was reading your entry, I thought to myself, it's nice to know I'm not alone and then I see there are so many others of us going through the same struggle. Every time I come back from a trip I'm disgusted with having too much stuff. We are really good about giving things away but why are we always giving things away? Shouldn't we maybe learn a lesson and stop buying things in the first place? It is something to think about. Something I seem to continually struggle with.
I have a good friend, a professional organizer, that just doesn't have "stuff." There isn't anything on her counter top that doesn't have a purpose. No scraps of paper, no stray receipts or books laying around. Nothing without a purpose. She doesn't waste time looking like I do. I waste so much *time* trying to find things and I would say, compared to most people in America, I'm *very* organized! But still.....I'm not where I want to be.
Your post will motivate me and remind me to of my goal of just having exactly what I need: things that have a purpose in my life.

Four years ago, my mother-in-law passed away and we inherited her house (my father-in-law passed away three years before she did). It took us 11 MONTHS and I am not exaggerating, to clean it out. It took 3 trucks from the Salvation Army, 3 of our community dump trucks, 2 yard sales, and countless bags of *stuff* given away to friends and family. Our 2-story house was packed to the gills and was essentially uninhabitable for my minimalist husband and me during that time. After that experience, we swore we would never go in debt to buy stuff again, and we are currently living on one income and we're doing just fine. (ALL DEBTS PAID-YAY!-well, except for some school loans- but that's GOOD debt right?! )
As you can imagine this experience had a major impact on how we think about excess and how out of control it can get. I think a major reason for acquiring excess is FEAR. Fear and insecurity. Insidious thoughts like "What if I need this for that?", "What will people think if I don't have a cool outfit on?, "People will envy my gorgeous Pottery Barn living room, and I'll feel better about myself". , "We need all this food because we should have *choices*.", etc.
I'll be the first to admit that I *still* have these kinds of thoughts even after our ordeal. I still struggle with them. I think the solution is to make a conscious effort everyday not to buy stuff we don't need, eat the food we have in the house even if it doesn't seem appetizing at the time, and question the real reasons behind those fears and insecurities we all feel. It may not solve all of our problems with excess, but it’s a start, and it helps.

Ali
I couldn't agree with you more and you put it in words perfectly. Always a sense of what if I don't have it if I need it but at the same time just wanting to get enough were there is nothing left over to take up the clutter. I thought that I was the only one like that! Phew!!! I guess I haven't lost my mind and belong at the funny farm (maybe for other reasons!) but not for this. Things for making me feel more normal-I guess!!!
PJ

A few years ago we purchased the house we're living in now. We were able to move into the new house but didn't have people to help us with of our main things for 3 weeks. We moved the bare necessaries ourselves and after 3 weeks I felt like I didn't even want the rest of our stuff. It all was excess baggage in my eyes. I wouldn't have realized that without that situation developing. Now, I routinely take things to the Goodwill, local shelters, churches, private schools, etc. I keep a box in the hall closet (because I now have room in the closet!) When it gets full it goes with me to be dropped off someplace. Also, I'm much more careful with what I buy. I subconsciously am asking myself...will I just end up giving that away? I think "collecting" is a habit that can be broken or at least curbed.

So so true! Most of us have WAY too much stuff. I also purged a tote of shoes this week and lots of toys.
My son was a Thomas nut too. Instead of purging those, we put all the train items in a tote for the basement the last 6 mo. My son asked for them this week, and you would think it was Christmas again. He has played non stop with them all week. This confirms my plan of putting away and storing items from his playroom for a later date. I think kids get overwhelmed by excess too.

Your timing is awesome. I am facing (this afternoon) the perging of my clothes closet - a closet that has gotten away from me badly. I can't get another thing in it, but I was still bring home more. I feel out of control because of the mess.
I have a plan though...some serious dontations to good will, salvation army and our local christians in action this week. Then going forward...any time I add something new to my closet - something old has to leave in its place and be put in a box to donate once a month...This could work for toys, books, whatever your 'drug'of choice is. I think this will work for me. I've made my husband aware of the plan too so that I am accountable to someone. I figure perging as I go, should force me to see that I really have all that I need. Hope this helps.

Oh how I can TOTALLY relate to this! It is my life to a tee and now...in print! I was sure this was some crazy cycle I went through alone. Thanks for sharing!

ok this is almost freaky! it sounds like exactly what goes through my head about every 3 weeks. it's almost a compulsion to get rid of what just doesn't have purpose in my life! i guess we deal with it and go on. it'll nevr change...

My friend & I call this epidemic our "inner Girl Scout" (you know, always be prepared..). I am a total sucker for good packaging. How nice to know that others are suffering too.
Here is a quote from William Morris, the founder of the Arts & Crafts Movement, that I repeat to myself in these moments:
"Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

Hey all, I am so with you on this one. We started to reorganize in march because we consoldated the girls in the big room with bunkd beds and my 11 yr. old son got a loft bed for his birthday and we creadted a home office for my husband and a space for me for all my stuff (finally i am out of the wash room). And just today I found my self clearing out more and more stuff. I think that it is a never ending cycle. But after it is all done for about one week I can relax!! Hang in there.
Lenee G.

Ali,
Im not sure that travel does this to me. But I know that shifting house does. We just moved a week ago, from an 8square house to 23square house, and I look around me and see EXCESS!! We got rid of so much, but still I see the need to dump more. I dont wear that many clothes, I dont use half the scrapping stuff I have, and I certainly dont need all of those containers.
PURGE I will. Time for a Garage Sale (yard sale). Sell my excess, and only have the things we really need.
At church yesterday, we had some of our missionaries talk to us. They showed a dvd on Christians in India, with the set of clothes that they had on, and another set that hung on a nail. That was their only possessions. But they were rich, as Jesus was in their hearts. And you know what, you could see it. Their HOPE was in Jesus.
Western culture is so much more materialistic. Its scary!
Have a great day!
Dee

Interesting that I would read this today -
I just made myself buy only 2 (!) peaches... why must I buy five or six of everything?
We don't eat all of them -
wasteful.
I'm looking forward to weeding through fall things too.

I totally get this. Every time we stay at a hotel I get the bug to purge when we get home because I realize how little we "need" to get by. Somehow, though, when we do get home - I find it really hard to follow through and actually get rid of stuff. Ugh.

Yes, I totally embrace this concept. I hate excess, which typically translates into clutter. Simplification just feels so good. Freeing.