Loucas

Wow! It’s been about a year since that post and I’m still at it. I am constantly trying to not bring anything home with me, be it a receipt or supplies.

It’s so hard in this society to not have stuff or accumulate stuff. Sometimes it drives me crazy. I work daily on getting rid of things. I’m subscribed to freecycle groups and I take trips to the donation area of thrift stores. I’m tired of being bogged down by all this.

My ultimate goal in getting rid of these things is to have an RV with all my belongings fit neatly and in an uncluttered fashion.

I have found it unbelievably hard to get rid of my books. I loved my books, I loved having them there but I realized that I have been carting them around for 10 years and not really referencing them or reading them. Why would I keep them? Some of my books I inherited from my grandfather, some are my mother’s, and some belonged to friends that I’ve read and been holding onto to give them back.

I have been thinking about my house burning down and losing everything. I picture myself for the first week living in a hotel – What items would I need and want in that first week? In a month I’ll be in an apartment – What would I want and need in that first month? Then in 6 months what would I want and need? I noticed that in the first list my “needs” list was longer than my wants list but I did have things in both columns and by the time I got to my 6 month list, my “wants” was longer than my “needs” list. I also made a list of things that I would regret losing, like a lamp of my grandmother’s or my grandfather’s paintings.

Now I’m assessing everything else and slowly but constantly getting rid of everything else. I do it everyday. I also think about having company over and ask myself, “If someone saw this, would I be embarrassed? How does this look to someone else?”

These few thoughts have helped me get rid of over half my stuff.