Learning to live without things

I mentioned to a friend that it was becoming easier every day to toss or give away things, rather than pack them to take when we move. She asked me how I was able to get past the “can’t live without it” stage.

It told her it was easy. Things are simply things—not people.

• Things don’t love me back.
• Things don’t cry with me.
• Things don’t hold my hand or hug me when I need it.
• Things don’t care what house they reside in.
• Things only sit there and wait to be dusted or broken.
• Things don’t count for anything when my life is over.

When I’m dead my relatives may fight over my things, or they may chuck them all in the trash—but hopefully they will hold on to the memories of our times together, hopefully they will remember the hugs we shared, and hopefully they will remember and know in their heart how much I loved them—and not my things.

When I look at things this way it’s very easy to say good-bye.

Here are the rules I’m using as I sort through everything:

• If I can easily and fairly inexpensively replace it, I’m not packing/moving it.
• If it’s old and worn out (like most of our furniture) and not a family heirloom—we aren’t moving it.
• If I come across it and don’t remember why I bought it, when I last used it, or who gave it to me—then I’m not packing/moving it.
• Lastly, and perhaps most importantly—if it doesn’t speak to my heart—I’m not packing/moving it.

I’m also quickly becoming tired of sorting/packing/cleaning…and the more worn out and sick of sorting/packing/cleaning I become, the easier it is to chuck things in the give-away or trash bin.

If it helps you to understand, I defer to the phlegmatic side of my personality for this.

I would guess that better than 50% of the stuff in this house falls in the “I can live without” category. My main personality is Melancholy, which explains why we are buried under all these things. LOL!