"Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, ..." Sing it, Janis! I hope I've got this song stuck in your head.
Lately I've had this song stuck in my head. I've been feeling very anxious about clearing the clutter and, just plain STUFF I have in my house. I'm falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning with this one thought on my mind. "I've got to get rid of all this stuff." It's starting to choke me. I'm feeling weighed down by my stuff.
Yesterday I went to the store because I needed new pants and shirts for work. Can you believe I couldn't find any black pants? Well, I couldn't. So, I'm wearing my old black pants. I could, however, find a brown pair of pants, so I bought them. I also bought three new shirts. Yay. When I go home I threw away three old shirts and an old pair of brown pants. Gone. I don't need extra stuff. The reason I went to the store was to get new clothes because the old pants and shirts were looking shabby. I am not saving shabby clothes. I don't need "clean the house" clothes or anything of this sort. And, no one wants my worn out shabby clothes.
I need to start emptying drawers and cupboards. I need to have less stuff. I've always felt I needed to sell my old stuff. Now I'm beginning to think I need to get rid of the stuff. I tried to toss some things away last week. I was thwarted in my efforts by both my husband and my son. They saw the stuff in the garbage and they said, "hey, who's throwing my stuff away?" Mind you, the stuff I tossed had been sitting on a table in the spare room for no less than three years. Seriously! Three years! But it was precious to them. My new way of getting rid of stuff will be to double bag it and THEN toss it in the trash. No way will I allow them to garbage pick it back out. Stuff HAS to go.
The next things going out of the house on eBay will be collectibles that no longer have any value whatsoever, to me. Btw, they have no collectible value, either. Gone will be Lladros, Nao by lladro, Longaberger baskets, etc. If you like any of this kind of thing and you don't follow me on Twitter or my Facebook page, you'd better start now. The stuff has to go and it has to go soon.
I want to be free. I want to be free of my stuff. 'Cause freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. I've been watching my co-worker freeing herself of all her belongings and I've never seen her look happier. I want to feel the feeling of only possessing things I use all the time or things I love. I want to focus my time and energy on the people in my life, not the things. I'm ready to let it go.
I've discovered a lot of bloggers in the "less is more" genre. Leo Babauta and Matt Baker and Beth Dargis are a few of my favorites. These blogs encourage me to live more with less. Leo and Matt may be a bit hard core in the minimalism. Matt has taken photographs of all his stuff. He doesn't have much. Leo, from what he says, has very few possessions. I don't think it's necessary to go quite this far, but you can learn a lot from them. I am encouraged by Mariza. She went from a huge single family home to living in an RV. She does it with such style. I'm not sure I could make it to this level, but the desire is burning in my soul. Who knows, maybe I can do this, too.
168. Encouragers in the quest to live with less
169. Bloggers showing me how to live with so much less
170. Bloggers living with less, yet living with style
171. For having more than I need and yet wanting to live with less
Lately I've had this song stuck in my head. I've been feeling very anxious about clearing the clutter and, just plain STUFF I have in my house. I'm falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning with this one thought on my mind. "I've got to get rid of all this stuff." It's starting to choke me. I'm feeling weighed down by my stuff.
Yesterday I went to the store because I needed new pants and shirts for work. Can you believe I couldn't find any black pants? Well, I couldn't. So, I'm wearing my old black pants. I could, however, find a brown pair of pants, so I bought them. I also bought three new shirts. Yay. When I go home I threw away three old shirts and an old pair of brown pants. Gone. I don't need extra stuff. The reason I went to the store was to get new clothes because the old pants and shirts were looking shabby. I am not saving shabby clothes. I don't need "clean the house" clothes or anything of this sort. And, no one wants my worn out shabby clothes.
I need to start emptying drawers and cupboards. I need to have less stuff. I've always felt I needed to sell my old stuff. Now I'm beginning to think I need to get rid of the stuff. I tried to toss some things away last week. I was thwarted in my efforts by both my husband and my son. They saw the stuff in the garbage and they said, "hey, who's throwing my stuff away?" Mind you, the stuff I tossed had been sitting on a table in the spare room for no less than three years. Seriously! Three years! But it was precious to them. My new way of getting rid of stuff will be to double bag it and THEN toss it in the trash. No way will I allow them to garbage pick it back out. Stuff HAS to go.
The next things going out of the house on eBay will be collectibles that no longer have any value whatsoever, to me. Btw, they have no collectible value, either. Gone will be Lladros, Nao by lladro, Longaberger baskets, etc. If you like any of this kind of thing and you don't follow me on Twitter or my Facebook page, you'd better start now. The stuff has to go and it has to go soon.
I want to be free. I want to be free of my stuff. 'Cause freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. I've been watching my co-worker freeing herself of all her belongings and I've never seen her look happier. I want to feel the feeling of only possessing things I use all the time or things I love. I want to focus my time and energy on the people in my life, not the things. I'm ready to let it go.
I've discovered a lot of bloggers in the "less is more" genre. Leo Babauta and Matt Baker and Beth Dargis are a few of my favorites. These blogs encourage me to live more with less. Leo and Matt may be a bit hard core in the minimalism. Matt has taken photographs of all his stuff. He doesn't have much. Leo, from what he says, has very few possessions. I don't think it's necessary to go quite this far, but you can learn a lot from them. I am encouraged by Mariza. She went from a huge single family home to living in an RV. She does it with such style. I'm not sure I could make it to this level, but the desire is burning in my soul. Who knows, maybe I can do this, too.
168. Encouragers in the quest to live with less
169. Bloggers showing me how to live with so much less
170. Bloggers living with less, yet living with style
171. For having more than I need and yet wanting to live with less
I want and need to get rid of stuff, too. Seems like I'm always napping when I should be working on it, though. I am so void of energy right now. Wah.
ReplyDeleteUmmm. I'd cut myself a bit of slack, if I were you. You're making another human being just now. :)
ReplyDeleteI love getting rid of stuff - boxes to Goodwill, etc. Sometimes I waffle and keep things because of sentimental reasons, such as a mug that I put in the Goodwill box and then took out - it was from a birthday "goodie" bag my parents made for me once. They were so cute and beamed that they went shopping for my birthday and did that. So I had to keep it.
ReplyDeleteBut my ex-husband wanted to keep two empty Coors beer cans he got on a trip out West before they sold Coors on the east coast. I put them in the garbage out back and he saw them in there and took them back out! I'll bet he still has them. :)
I'll bet he does still have them. *shakes head* I'm hoping you feel lighter by clearing clutter and things. I want to feel that feeling. :)
ReplyDeletenice..is that a pic of you? i am all for getting rid of stuff you dont use...we usually go on a rampage a couple times a year and bleed stuff...we are due...soon...
ReplyDeleteHaha, it's Janis, not me.
ReplyDeleteLife has been wonderful since I've down-sized. I continue to declutter even after my move. It has been freeing.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I try to get rid of some stuff my husband or kid thwarts me, too! What is up with that?
ReplyDeleteHappygirl! I'm so happy for you! I'm flattered that you say that I live in a RV and I do it with style! Wow! What a nice compliment! Decluttering is so much work, but so worth it! If you have time, take pictures of the before and the after! Those are fun to look at later on!
ReplyDeleteI have been having a similar urge. We have a lot of "stuff" that has been handed down--antiques and such. There are times that I love it and other times, I wonder if life wouldn't be simpler without so much and such a large house. Maybe I am going through a spiritual change.
ReplyDelete