Over the last two months, I have come into an awareness that I have too much stuff. Part of this could be the culmination of living in a 900 square foot house with little to no closet space. The other part is that I simply have accumulated too many items for one human to wear.
I have button-ups, coats, shoes, pants, tees, exercise paraphernalia, and it just keeps amounting into more and more and more.
The output isn’t the problem as I methodically push my barely used items out of the house and to the local mission, or thrift shop, or even Goodwill. It really has become an input problem. I am simply buying too many things because I like the color or design or…whatever. An actual need is usually not on the table. I buy items for pleasure, whims of desire.I am aware I live a privileged existence. I also realize (now, at least) that I don't have to live this way. There is a better way.
And so I’ve come up with a plan to address the intake, the whimsical buying, the need of mine to buy more, consume more. Five percent of my efforts will be directed to culling my accumulation and the other 95% of my efforts will be directed to shutting down the intake of new items.
As I've masticated these thoughts and whittled my thoughts into a plan, I am already noticing my resistance, a squirming. It feels audacious to even contemplate (perhaps more audacious is the fact that I am here, resorting to this level of intervention). And so I’ve decided to make an attempt to not purchase any additional clothing or shoe items for ONE year. Just putting this into words causes me to want to go into hoarding mode, a stockpiling of sorts. This problem is insidious.
In the end, once my hyperventilating eases, I am confident that I can make it a year without a sock or undies or shoe purchase. I want to live a life of less, one that is less consumer and more careful steward of what I already have. If I’m honest, I feel a wee bit excited about this self-ordained challenge. I am hoping for some by-product wins as a result. I would like my neediness for new items to take a hit, to be reduced to a delightful contentment with what I already have.
And so I will start today. The extent of my stockpiling was stopped at the purchase of two pairs of Crocs (one of the few items I routinely wear out). This is my splurge, my final hurrah.
Please note, I am well-aware that my measly problem and the way I am choosing to address it is solidly a first-world problem. This challenge I am setting out to accomplish is noted to be a meager, bordering on pathetic, attempt to stem a problem that many might wish to have. Still, I need this intervention. I want to consume less and enjoy more of what I already possess. I can only hope for more of less in other areas of my life as well. I will keep you posted, I am sure this will be a riveting unfolding.
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