aftermath

This whole process was a very good experience for me. I got rid of so much junk and even though at this very moment my life is still a little cluttered, just knowing how much stuff I have gotten rid of is extremely satisfying.
Diogenes the Cynic basically associated possessions with unhappiness, and believed that the more one is able to live without possessions, the better off and happier they will be, because they are living in the moment and without anxiety. He took it to the extreme, living in a tub, eating the plainest food and wearing the coarsest clothes. I don't know if I agree with everything he said, but I think the less we tie up our happiness in things, the better off we will be, and he certainly seemed to have the courage to live out his convictions. Another great thing that has happened is that I've made so much more room now, it's as if my house has grown in size. The storage bins that I have been able to clear out will be more than adequate for storing the stuff that is left over. And finally, I knew I couldn't really do the 100 things challenge I mentioned in an earlier post, but this was something I could do to reduce clutter in my life. I reinforced something I knew about myself too, which was that I am much better at getting things done when I force myself to do something every day.
I hope other people out there are inspired by this small first step into doing something similar on their own. I do believe that possessions, especially unused posessions, have the effect of weighing you down, and when you rid yourself of some of those, you can live a slightly lighter existence. Plus, in the process of throwing things away, you really begin to realize what is important and what isn't, and you realize that there is less room in your life for what is just taking up space. Now the challenge is to apply what I've learned to other aspects of my life--and I think this was a great way to start down that path.

day thirty

So I thought and thought about what I might do for the last day of this project, and my friends of course had great ideas. I wanted to do something symbolic for the last day, but I didn't know quite what. One friend suggested I commit a crime and get arrested, therefore throwing my freedom away, but I thought that would be missing the point because of all the legal paperwork I would then have to deal with. Another said quitting my job might be a way to get rid of unwanted clutter, but that didn't sound too good either. I thought about getting rid of something that I didn't want to get rid of, but the whole point is to get rid of clutter, not give away stuff that you want to keep. Pretty much every day up until this point has had a theme as well, one day it's old clothes, old computer parts, etc.
So today I grabbed a bunch of stuff that was laying around randomly and the only thing I did differently this time was that I destroyed some of it with a two-by-four, so this blog could go out on a 'bang', but still remain on topic and on focus. This time it was old shelves, more CD's, a cd caddy, an envelope caddy, old clothes, etc. I have to say, it was quite satisfying to end it this way. Hopefully it marks a symbolic end to an activity I hope to be more aware of and curtail in the future.

day twenty-nine

Not a single one of these socks has its twin. Every single one is a solo sock. I did find two when I laid them out that matched, so score there. I think at this point I'm beyond any sort of logical explanation as to why I kept 9 unmatched socks hanging around. Really, what can you even do with unmatched socks? There are actually a lot of ideas, I liked the idea of using it as a swiffer pad or making a catnip bag out of it.
The last day is coming up. I'm pretty much out of ideas at this point; I'm down to the junk I do want to keep, while the junk I don't want to keep is gone. Looking around the house, I can't see any piles that I haven't decimated or eliminated, and it seems like since the beginning this blog has been about getting rid of not just one or two things, but piles and piles of things, and I think they are all gone. What's it gonna be?

day twenty-eight

I'm getting closer to the finish line and am actually starting to run out of things to get rid of. This is a little catch-all organizer that was supposed to just be used for personal items like cuff links, watches, wallets, that kind of thing. However, it has ensnared much more than that. However out of all this stuff, this was all I ended up throwing away: Not a lot really, although there are some interesting things, like the old OS for my drum machine (top right, looks like a computer chip), some oddly named lip balm (chicken poop??), some stamps that I have held on to forever, and will likely never use, as well as some random plastic pieces that I've kept because I thought that if I ever found what they came from, I would reattach them. I have never found where they came from, but now I know where they're going.
A lot of the stuff from this organizer got moved to different places (usually where similar stuff is), the rest got organized (I finally have all my spare buttons in one place), and now the organizer is close to what its original intention might have been. One nice offshoot of this project is that things that are alike are now getting their own space...games have their storage space, manuals have their area, CD's, etc., they are all coalescing into (small) piles where hopefully all I'll have to do is think of a type of thing I need, and I will be able to go straight to it.
I ran out of space on my camera, but when I clear some out, I'll take a picture of what it looks like now. It's a big improvement.
See, it looks better

day twenty-seven

I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only one who has collected so much, well, junk, around themselves. It's not like I'm Fred Sanford and just collect it; what invariably happens is that there are things that I end up with that I don't want to throw away just yet, or need to put in a particular place. So when I'm cleaning around the house, I'll just pick it up off the floor or wherever it is and put it in, typically, a shoebox. And after awhile, those shoeboxes just add up. I have kept personal letters, notes, and cards from everyone for years, but the box that held this stuff has just gotten bigger, and even though I didn't get rid of a whole lot, it is definitely a light and more organized shoebox now. The yo-yo was just a cheap christmas toy that I was hanging on to.
I found an H.P. Lovecraft quote in this box that I must have written down a long time ago, and even now, I still ascribe to it. First of all, let me say I don't dislike people who are missionaries, or particularly religious; they're usually upstanding, trustworthy, reliable citizens, whom I respect. My deal is that I don't like being evangelized to; in fact, I find it insulting. For one, I don't come up to you and evangelize, why would you come up to me and do the same? Besides, evangelizing seems like such a worthless enterprise. I've read that Jehovah's witnesses believe that only 144,000 people make it to heaven. If that's the case, why on earth are they going door to door? They are reducing their chances of getting there. There are admonitions in the bible to do this, in particular the last verses in the book of Matthew. The problem I have isn't going out and baptizing people in someone's name (or whatever your particular evangelism calls for), the problem is that you are essentially telling them they will go to hell if they don't accept what you say. That to me is unacceptable, and a false choice. To me a similar statement would be, "If you don't do what I say, then you are a terrorist".

day twenty-six

Only five more days to go! I have a small filing box where I keep important documents, like tax-related information, health and wellness stuff, pay stubs and bank statements, and other related items. I actually went through this a little bit earlier this year when I did taxes, but when I was cleaning out another box, I found a sack full of bank statements that went back many years, and that got me to thinking I needed to clean up my documents box. I've read that you don't need to hold on to that stuff for more than a year, so I ditched those bank statements, along with a bunch of other stuff that was just taking up room. I made sure I shredded everything so that my personal information wouldn't end up in the wrong hands. There ended up being so much that it took two garbage bags to hold it all, and my shredder overheated three times before I could finish. The end is in sight!

day twenty-five

For most things people buy, you get a user's manual or some sort of documentation or warranty card for the item, whether it be electronics, or a George Foreman grill, or whatever. I try to keep all of these, but I haven't cleaned house in that department in a while, so this was due. So I went through what I had, removed what I no longer owned, and organized what was left.
I've always been somewhat enamored by the notion of picking up and just going and moving whenever it hits you, but mostly in my mind, not so much in real life. I'm definitely not as free as say, the guy from "Into the Wild", but it's always been interesting to me to not be tied to anyone or anything or anyplace; I think it's one of those back-to-basics / back-to-nature things which I think are important for people to do from time to time, to keep perspective on what is and is not important. I guess though that I find it more satisfying to have music stuff and other things that make me happy surrounding me than I find the notion of moving around all the time. I don't know how close I am to the idea of having so few worldly possessions that I could just up and move at any time with little to no preparation, but it's definitely closer.