Preparing for a JUNK RAID ... Part 1

so...we have a lot of stuff and we're sick of it.
AND we're ready to do whatever it takes to deal with it, right?

Just like with any war or battle, though, if you go in, guns blazing, 
without a well-thought out plan
it's going to be a disastrous failure.

One of the reasons people have a hard time tackling their stuff is because their plan looks a lot like:

"OK, today is the day (looking around the great room). I finally have a day where nothing is going on and I'm going to get ORGANIZED!  First, I'm going to run to Wal-Mart and get a bunch of bins to put all this crap in to and I'm going to stop by the office supply store and get me a label maker because I've heard organized people label everything!  And then I'll come home and start throwing some stuff away, putting stuff in bins and getting my house ORGANIZED."

First, can we talk for a minute about the word ORGANIZED??

organize

play

verb  or·ga·nize \ˈȯr-gə-ˌnīz\

to arrange or order things so that they can be found or used easily and quickly : to put things into a particular arrangement or order

Call it a pet peeve, but in my opinion this word is completely overused. People don't really know what they are even trying to accomplish except they want everything to be perfect (which isn't EVER possible, by the way...)

As in "I have got to get organized!" 

or 

"I wish I could be as organized as her!" 

or 

"If I were just more organized, my life would be so much easier!"

People think that being organized means buying bins and matching hangers and label makers and somehow putting it all together to be amazing and never troublesome again.  The truth is....

WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF 
(Remember? It's called the Curse of Affluence!)

THUS, you can't just get organized anymore.

That ship has sailed.

That was life in the 1800's and early to mid 1900's.

People in those days used to say

"A place for everything and everything in it's place?"

But The Curse of Affluence has changed all that for us.

And now, in our "too much stuff world" we have to say instead

"A place for every KEEPER 
and every KEEPER in its place."

And before we "organize" we have to determine what things we own are KEEPERS--things that are really adding something positive to our lives and eliminate the junk that is draining negatively. 

We need to go on a Junk Raid. 

It's a battle, people, and we need a plan....a real plan.

A plan that has specific and clear steps that we can follow to get us to our ultimate goal--even VICTORY over our affluence and junk!

SO HERE'S an idea for a plan!

1. Prepare your family.

This doesn't have to be an ultra formal family meeting but if you are anything more than a single person, you need to warn your family members that changes are going to be happening.  I'd like to think you'd say something like:

"Family! I love you dearly and life is good. But we have too much stuff. Look around and see. We are drowning. It makes me grumpy. It makes you grumpy (even if you don't realize it) and it's time we did something about it. So I have a plan to do just that. I will be going through over the next several weeks and methodically evaluating the stuff in this house (and garage and shed and storage units) and downsizing. (GASPS will then be heard from your family members--especially the "we must hold on to everything or we will die" people).  Then add this very key phrase "I promise that I will not get rid of any of your personal items--your possessions--unless I talk to you first.  But we will be going through them together at some point :)."  

If you want to, you can discuss the details of the junk raid even more, talk about it and answer questions...maybe making some really positive remarks about how this is going to help your family so much and give us more time for the important things in life instead of spending so much time worrying about and dealing with your stuff.  You choose. But prepare your family first.

2. Set space priorities in your home

When I teach dejunking and organizing classes and get to this topic, I always stop and say "If you get NOTHING ELSE out of this class and only go home understanding and applying the concepts of space priorities, I will be a happy teacher."  

The same is true for this blog. If you get nothing else out of it, pay attention here.

The reason for that is simple: setting and maintaining space priorities will not only help your home and spaces be a lot more functional but it will also help you evaluate which stuff you really like, use and need enough to keep. It's kind of a game changer that way.

To tell you about space priorities, I need to go back to 1989. I was 19 years old and had a really good job as a secretary during all of the summer and holiday breaks from college. My employer was awesome and even let me take a few classes in order to improve my skills and become better at my job. And one of the classes I took was entitled something like "Organizing your Office" (there's that organized word again).  The class was a one day class and talked about all sorts of different aspects of having an organized office.  But the one part that I remember the very most was so simple...the part about space priorities.  

In the class they showed a picture of a desk

And they labeled the top of the desk "A" or "Prime" 

and the drawers to the side of the desk "B" or "Secondary"

and the cabinets on the other side of the room (not even seen in this picture) "C" or "Long Term."

And they explained--

In an office, the area of the top of your desk is Prime space. It is where the things that you use EVERY DAY deserve to be. So the files, papers, equipment, and supplies that you use every day should be the ONLY things that reside there.

The drawers in your desk are Secondary space. You have to make a motion to reach down and open the drawer and then lift the item out, thus requiring more energy and effort. Your secondary spaces should house the things that you use every few days, or at least once a week-ish but not things you use every day.

And the cabinets on the other side of the room are your Long Term spaces. These spaces are going to house the files and equipment you need to keep but simply don't use very often. This might be files that only come out once a quarter or every 6 months or pieces of equipment that need a home but are just not used all that often.  

And here are dramatic examples of what I am talking about.  

See how this person has everything in his prime space?

And do you see why that doesn't work?

You know he doesn't use all of those papers and supplies every single day!

and yet there they sit in his prime space.

As opposed to this person who figured it out. 

This desk is not only much more pleasing to the eye but you can almost guarantee that the person who owns this desk is much more productive and happy, right?  

It just happens that way.

And the exact same principle applies in our homes and personal spaces as well!

Take a look at this:

or this:

What have these people done? 

They have let their PRIME SPACES in their kitchen be taken over and forced to house things that they do not use every day! or even every week! They have let things that don't deserve to be in a Prime Space move right in.

And yet, if you go view homes that look beautiful, charming and appealing and make you feel like you want to be there, their kitchens usually look something like this:

 or this...

(Ever wonder why you like the Parade of Homes kitchen so much better than your own?

It might not be the fancy cabinetry or $800 faucet!)

Seriously, can you see the difference?  The PRIME SPACES...the places in the room that are easy to get at with very little effort, are only holding only a FEW things.

(Now here is a disclaimer for this post and all future posts.
I personally really do try to live my passion.

So, when I write or teach about different aspects of dejunking or organizing, there will be a lot of times I show you pictures of my own home and spaces.
When I do this, I am not trying to say that I am perfect or that my home is perfect.
It's just one example of many that I could show but it's easiest to take pictures of my own spaces.
Hope that makes sense?
And that no one is offended?)

In case you are thinking that these rooms in the pictures above are all just a fake set up and not really a "real" kitchen that real people live and cook in, here is mine.

Does it look like this when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner? 
No.
And do I profess to have the perfect kitchen or spaces? No.

But I want to show you a few things...

 On my kitchen counter 
are only the things that we use every day.

We use the Bosch mixer and blender every single day. We are big bakers and "make food from scratch" people and the Bosch is seriously used every day.

We are also big fruit eaters 
(well, my husband and I are and I'm TRYING to get my kids
to see that fruit is better than ice cream...)

so I have the fruit bowl right out there and try to keep it full of apples,oranges,pears, bananas,
tomatoes, limes.....

And over here....

 we have our toaster out.

Some people don't use toasters that often 
but for some reason we DO.

We toast something or another, usually way more than one, every single morning for breakfast. And my kids love to toast waffles or bagels for snacks after school too.  And sometimes we toast french bread for dinner or piece of banana bread for a late night snack. 

Seriously, we are crazy toast people.

SO, our toaster gets the privilege of residing in our PRIME SPACE,

along with our menu board that keeps me 
organized and honest

and helps avoid the
 "what's for dinner" question every night.

And on my third counter 

is the phone 
and a file folder for each persons "papers" to be kept in. 
(I will be talking all about dejunking and organzing papers in a future post and this file will be explained in detail there). 

The point I am trying to make is, in order to be happy with your spaces and how your home looks, you need to start recognizing what your PRIME SPACES are and protecting them, almost with a vengeance. 

(After all, we're in a war with stuff, remember?)

As a side note, REMEMBER that I (or anyone else for that matter) can't tell you what deserves to be in
your prime spaces.
Remember our family's fetish with the toaster?  There is probably no other family who eats as much toasted foods as we do. If you are one of those that hardly eats toast,
by all means put the toaster away!
Don't keep it in your prime space!

 

The idea of prime spaces doesn't end with a desk
or even the kitchen counter, though.

What about the bathroom?

Where are the prime spaces here?

How about the counter tops to start!

Can you see how these people have all let their prime spaces be taken over by things you know
they are not using every day?

And if you have a small bathroom...guess what?

Even the drawers and any storage spaces close by would also be considered prime.

Let me show you....

This bathroom has a set up kind of similar to the bathroom in our first home. 

It was small to say the least

with little to no counter space or storage.

So we just had to make a rule--only the things that we used every day even came close to this space.

Which means there were no 

extra tubes of toothpaste anywhere close to here..

or all of my bottles of nailpolish 
or even the nail polish remover

or the gel I like to use in my hair periodically

or the extra tube of mascara that came free with one

or the extra razor blades for my husband's razor

or, or, or....

You get the picture, right?

The only things in these prime spaces were:

toothbrushes and toothpaste currently in use

current make up in use

current hair products in use

current deoderants in use

current prescription medications

razor, shaving cream

comb and brush

That's about it.

Anything else had to be kept elsewhere,
away from this Prime space.

Here is our current master bath.

My husband I and I have compromised (another awesome future blog post topic :) and we have the products that we use every day in the mirrored tray.
My husband uses Q-tips every day so they are in the small decorative oval-shaped box. 

On this "vanity" counter we also have compromised and leave out both his blow dryer and mine

(what can I say? ...we get ready at the same time and get grumpy at having to wait for the other one to finish using the blow dryer...so we got TWO!)

as well as my straightener. 

They do fit the criteria for being worthy of our prime spaces--they are all used every day. 

so...

Our #1 message today?

Identify your space priorities

and then



PROTECT them from things that don't deserve to be there.

 

Your next question might be "how do I even go about setting your space priorities? 

and my answer?

MAKE A WRITTEN PLAN

I know it sounds complicated and overboard.
But I promise, it's not.
Try it.

One of my most favorite phrases is

A GOAL IS JUST A WISH UNTIL IT IS WRITTEN DOWN"   

There is something really powerful about writing down goals, thoughts, plans or ideas instead of just thinking about them.

If you don't believe me on this, just try it for ONE space in your house.

Let's say the Living Room and front closet near by.

Get out a single piece of paper and go sit in that room and write down any storage spaces you can see. This includes any space where things can be kept (no the middle of the floor does not count).

Next, give it a priority of either Prime, Secondary or Long Term depending on how easy it is to get to. Remember the desk? The spaces that are the most out in the open and easy to reach for and pick up something should house the things that you use every day. 

Then, start making a plan for the things you are going to keep there.  This is why we worry about space priorities so early in the "dejunking game." It is really helpful, as you dejunk and put things away that you are putting them away in a reasonable space for how much you use them. You need the plan in place early so you are not doing it again later. 

Here's an example of a space priorities chart from a typical living room. 

Space	Priority	Contents
Living Room coffee table	A	Current magazines Flower arrangement
Living Room end table 1	A	lamp, family pictures
Living Room end table 2	A	lamp, current newspaper
Living Room Piano Bench	A	current Piano Books
Entry Closet Floor	B	piano Books not in use
Entry Closet Rod	A	coats in current use
Entry Closet Shelf 1	A	umbrellas, adult hats, scarves, gloves, work gloves
Entry Closet Shelf 1	B	Floor matt, flashlights, Craig hats, hovercraft toy

So here is your next challenge....
When you have nothing better to do
(which is EVERY DAY)
give it a try!
I promise it will help in your quest to get control of your spaces and stuff!

Next post:  Preparing for a Junk Raid Part 2

Then why do we do it?

So it's been established...

We have too much stuff.
And it's not good for us.
Or our homes.
Or our relationships.

Those are kind of important things....and yet we do something that is really not good for them.

WHY DO WE DO IT?

There is probably a different answer to that question for every person out there.
But here are what I think might be the 6 most popular excuses reasons I've heard.

1.  "Someday I might NEED this."
(Otherwise known as "Great Depression Paranoia)

The Great Depression came along in the late 1920's-1930's and was a dark time. Hundreds of thousands lost their jobs and were without a way to support themselves or their families. People were cold and hungry and hopeless.  Few are still alive that lived through The Great Depression but we have read about it, seen pictures of it and heard about it from those who endured it. And, in the back of our minds, we're a little worried it will happen again.

So we save everything.

It might stem from the stories our grandparents or great-grandparents told or the way we watched them live their lives and save every screw, box or bag but the bottom line is, we don't want to ever be caught without again. The Great Depression was tough and taught us a lot of lessons. Maybe one good consequence of it all today is a lot of people set aside extras in the way of food and supplies. Many put way funds for a rainy day in anticipation of hard times ahead. And that is great. I'm all for being prepared for emergencies and disasters. But what good is a dried up tube of mascara going to do you if there were ever another Great Depression? Or perfume that smells like fly spray? Or stacks of old National Geographic magazines? Or size 4 pants when you are now a size 12? or old Easter baskets, ugly frames, broken toys, or expired prescriptions?

Do you know what I think? I think that all of this worry about The Great Depression is actually causing more of a Great Depression than it is actually ever saving us from.  

How many would agree that we are in the middle of a "Great Depression" of sorts, today too?

Only it looks like this:
"I'm so depressed! My house is a complete disaster and I can't ever find anything!"

OR

"I'm so depressed! We can't ever park any of our cars in our garage because they are so packed full of boxes, bags, and piles of junk!"

OR

"I'm so depressed! I would like my family and friends to be able to come visit and stay with me but the guest bedroom is full to the brim and you can't really see the bed, much less sleep in it."


It is good to be prepared but we have taken it a bit too far, don't you think? Most all of the stuff we keep "just in case we might need it" really isn't going to help us with much of anything.  Let it go. Be free. Recognize it for what it is....a bad excuse to keep things that are really never going to be used or useful again.

2.   "I paid good money for this."
You might think this is a valid excuse--until you hear "The Parable of the Cowboy Boots."

Once upon a time there was a girl (OK, it was me). She/I had a good job the summer before I went to college. I made a lot more money than any 18 year old girl really needs. After putting money away for college expenses each week, there was still a lot that was burning a big, enormous hole in my pocket--and usually that occurred while I was at the mall? :) go figure....

In one of my many excursions to find something extraordinary and fashionable, I found a clearance rack at a rather expensive store. As I scanned the shoes in my size, there before me was a box of beautiful brown leather cowboy boots. 

"I've always wanted cowboy boots!" my rather silly, childish mind said. 

My more mature self answered "Where in the world would you ever wear cowboy boots?"

"Maybe on a date to ride horses? You never know when a cute cowboy could ask me out.."

"Yes, and maybe you should get a really nice wet suit and fins in case a marine biologist asks you out next," my sarcastic mature self retorted.

"They are only $54.99! and they are real leather!  Look at them! These are regularly $128 boots!  I could even dress up like a cowgirl for Halloween!" my silly self thought wildly. "I even think I could wear them with that one really cute peach colored dress I just got a few months ago. They'd look stylin'!"

Never mind I had plenty of things to wear for Halloween already and plenty of cute shoes to wear with the peach dress. Of course the shoes were purchased and carried home proudly by my weak, childish self. And they stayed laying in the box until the perfect time to wear them arrived--which was.....

Never.

I did try them on a few times. They looked really great but not quite as great with the peach dress as I thought they would.  And no one ever asked me out on a date to ride horses--ever (can you believe that?). And I looked way better as a flapper girl that a cowgirl for Halloween and...

Fast forward 5 years and my husband and I are getting ready to graduate from college and move to our first job. As we are looking through closets and organizing things he says "What's in that big shoe box that has always just sat on the shelf in our closet?"

"Those are my really cute, never worn expensive cowboy boots," I answered with attempted confidence.

"Really? You OWN cowboy boots?" he asks, a little bewildered. (I wasn't what you would have called an "outdoorsy" kind of girl--either while we were dating or in all the time we had been married.)

"Well, I thought they'd come in handy and so far...it hasn't happened. I paid $50 for them and they are $130 boots! They're brand new! I can't just get rid of them."

And then he said probably the most profound thing the guy has ever said...
"Well, how long do you have to hold on to them before you're going to get your $50 back?"

He had a point.
And it was time to admit I might have made a mistake in buying those boots.

The reality is we all make stupid choices in spending--which is hard to admit. We don't like making mistakes. My favorite finance guy Dave Ramsey calls it "Stupid Tax." You just have to pay "taxes" sometimes for being stupid. We all do. We make stupid purchases and decisions with money. It happens in all sorts of different dollar amounts too.

I'd like to say that buying those boots was the last stupid tax I ever spent. It wasn't.  But the point here is that keeping stuff that you paid good money for even though it was a dumb purchase is even dumber. You're not going to get your money back by keeping it. Once you handed over that cash or check or credit card number, that money went into the system and left you forever. It's not coming back.  Admit it, get rid of whatever it was you shouldn't have bought, and be free.

PS This also goes for really small things like salad dressing (that flavor you wanted to try and paid $5 a bottle! for but it turns out it tastes disgusting and you wouldn't serve it to your most annoying dinner guest) and lipgloss (that you picked up for $10, just sure that it was a nice subtle pink shimmer and instead looks like a really bad sunburn) and books (Oprah said it was awesome!? and it turns out, not so much). Let them go....you're not going to get your money back and holding on to it thinking you'll escape paying stupid tax is dumb! You already paid it! Admit it, let it go and move on!


3.  "It was a gift."

A few things you might not know about gifts....

* Despite the Three Wise Men’s gifts to Baby Jesus, gifts weren’t always an important part of Christmas. Before 1880, holiday presents were mainly whatever parents could stuff in shoes or stockings for the kids from Saint Nick. Any gifts that were exchanged among adults were small, handmade items. With the rise of manufacturing, however, more and more adults began exchanging cheap knickknacks.

* By 1912, the increasing pressure to shell out for Christmas gifts spurred a backlash. The Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving (SPUG) boasted a large membership, including former president Theodore Roosevelt and chapters across the country.  Wartime rationing and frugality in WWII made SPUG redundant, and when prosperity came back to America in the 50’s, the movement against wasteful gift-giving (sadly) died out. The Emphasis moved from knickknacks to more expensive items, useful or not.

* Today, gift giving has been refined into a science, with gift registries catering to every type of person and event. And as researchers have dug into the meaning of gift giving, they’ve found something surprising—that gifts are more for the pleasure of the giver than the recipient.  (from www.zady.com/features/the-history-of-gift-giving)

(Wow, huh? I have always like Teddy Roosevelt and now I like him even more Who's with me in starting a local chapter of SPUG? Is that fantastic or what?!)

There's a lot of history behind gift giving but there is also a lot of intense feelings there as well.  "What do I do about all of the gifts people give me that I really didn't want?" might be the number one question I am ever asked in people's quests to learn how to manage their possessions. And honestly, it's a pretty simple answer.

Remember this....

The intention of a gift is to let the other person know that you care about them and want to bless them in some way (even though their gift might not say that to you :)  The JOB of a GIFT is to express love/affection/friendship.  

And so 
Once a gift has been given by someone and received by you, it has done it's job. The love has been shared. The caring has been felt. the friendship has been strengthened. BOOM. One instant...job done.

An example might be when a really great husband (like mine) brings home flowers for no particular reason. 

I think I can speak for all women when I say that the enormity of the bouquet of flowers does not matter. The color of the flowers does not matter. The kind of vase or ribbon or fancy greenery it contains does not matter.  WHAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT ME ENOUGH TO STOP BY THE STORE AND BUY ME FLOWERS.  1 million points for you sir!  And it's going to be a good night from here on out :)

The gift of flowers is amazing because it does it's job, lives on the counter or table or nightstand and does it's job again and again until, after a few days, the petals start falling off and the flowers wilt away. Then I can throw them away and have nothing to store, dust or worry about. I love the gift of flowers!  And I think it teaches us volumes about what the job of gifts really is.

The job of a gift is to give that feeling (or the 1 million points) of being cared about and thought of.  Once it does it's job, the gift continuing to reside in our homes forever and a day is not really necessary.  

I like how Don Aslett, author of the book "Clutter's Last Stand" says it "We should always remember not to confuse the meaning of a gift with the gift itself.  The actual gift is only a vessel to express; once it does that, it generally has fulfilled its function. It's message will live with us, be part of us--forever possibly--but should we drag around the vessel after it has served it's purpose? That's like leaving the scaffolding up after a building is finished--take it down!"

There are definitely times when someone gives us a gift that is useful and amazingly perfect for what we needed or wanted. Sometimes we get a gift that is something we would never have bought ourselves but it turns out to be great for our personality and lifestyle. Oftentimes (most of the time probably) though, if we had wanted that item we probably would have just bought it ourselves (we're affluent to the point of drowning, remember?). So, as gifts come and go remember 

"you are not obligated to prolong the misery of a possession someone (however sincerely) had the poor judgement to lay on you. WE LOVE PEOPLE FOR THE THOUGHT OF THE GIFT, NOT THE GIFT." (Another great Don Aslett line I just couldn't say any better myself)

4.  "I want to save it for my posterity to know me by."
A lot of us remember fondly our childhood days. We had a special toy, a special trophy, a special sweater or blanket. We had yearbooks our friends signed, and mementos from family vacations, and letters from penpals and birthday cards from our grandmothers.

And it feels like if we don't keep all of our "keepsakes," our history will be gone. No one will know us or what our lives were like. 

Truth be told, I am actually a real sucker for this excuse reason for keeping stuff.

I had a great childhood.  I had a lot of great toys and clothes and cassette tapes filled with great music! And I even have my favorite Mother Goose records!  My mom is an amazing seamstress and not only did she make me the most amazing wardrobe but she also made one for my Barbie doll and for my Baby Tenderlove doll.   So I feel your pain.  

But, the trick with this one is to remember: WE CAN'T KEEP EVERYTHING!

We wish we could but, come on....no one has a 66,000 square foot Bill Gates mansion. There is only so much room! You can't keep it all. 

So  here's my advice.  Pick a box and fill it up with the best of the best. You are going to have to make some tough decisions, to be sure. You might have to decide to toss your binder full of drawings you did in 9th grade in order to keep the letters your Grandma sent to you while you were in college. But it's worth it. The best of the best is BEST! Enjoy it and let your posterity enjoy it too! 

And, as a side note, if you are going to save all of this stuff for your children and grandchildren to know you by, why not take some time to go through it with them and tell a few stories. My kids LOVE IT when I do this. It is such a great time to share and remember really great parts of your life. And if you take the time to tell them the stories behind things, that information can be passed on long after you are around! 

Keepsakes are valuable for lots of reasons but just remember, set a limit and make choices and only keep the BEST!


5.  "I am waiting until I find the perfect person to give it to."
OK, so this excuse drives me CRAZY! 

Do you know what I hear you saying when you say this?

"My junk is so spectacular, Goodwill just isn't good enough for it."
OR
"I am so busy I can't keep my head above water but I think I'll take on the job of thrift store manager/sorter/clerk/shelf cleaner and I'll find the shoppers too."
OR
"If I wait long enough, the perfect needy person will come walking along, knock on my door and ask for ____________ and I will have it to give them!"

Can I just say it out loud? You're being ridiculous.

Truth? Your junk is not any more wonderful than anyone else's out there. 
And why would you take on the job of FINDING someone to give your junk to when any number of non-profit, charitable entities have offered to do it for you for FREE?

If you don't like to give to big groups like Goodwill or Value Village (I get it, believe me), there are a LOT of other places that will take your things and find good homes for them for you! Ask around just a bit. Search on the web, make a few phone calls, ask around.  I know in our area, our local women's shelter will take just about anything. They bring in battered and abused women at all times of the day or night who escape dangerous situations and relationships with nothing but the clothes on their backs. When I talked to them, they were happy to have my slightly worn Nike running shoes or hardly used frying pans or wooden spoons, or my super cute and warm Disneyland sweatshirt that doesn't fit anymore. We also have a small thrift store that supports and encourages adoption rather than abortion that I love to donate to. Look around. Find them. They are everywhere. But don't take the job on yourself. Now you're just being ridiculous.


6.  "I don't have time to go through and clean out right now."

and to that I say...

When you are "sick of being sick and tired" (thank-you Dave Ramsey!) of drowning in stuff and being embarrassed and annoyed by your junk, you will find the time to do something about it. 

It's true that we all have the same 24 hours in a day. We get to decide each day what we are going to do with those hours. Are you ready to take some time away from Facebook or Pinterest or texting or reading that novel again to deal with things that really could make a difference in your life?  

I'll know you're ready when you say "I found the time!"


Next post:  "Preparing for a Junk Raid!"

What's wrong with too much?

Maybe I don't have to convince you....

There is a good chance that I might not need to convince you there is something wrong with too much stuff. You might already believe me when I say that too much stuff takes a lot of joy out of life and a lot of extra time away from what really matters. But just in case you need some convincing, let's talk about it for a minute.  

OUR POSSESSIONS CLUTTER OUR MINDS AND SPACES (in a big way)...

Look around your house. Look at the counter tops. Look in the closets. Look under the beds and out in the garage. Chances are your stuff is everywhere. Chances are you don't like it but it's all there anyway. I've had lots of people, in different classes or dejunking sessions tell me "Honestly, if I could get my family, pets and pictures out of my house, I would love for it to all burn down and start over. Someone please just set it on fire and I'll move to Walden Pond where life is simple."  

And, if you're like me and are a fan of books like "Little House on the Prairie," more than once you have thought "If I could take modern medicine and plumbing with me, I would go back to that time in a heart beat!" How great would it be to only have 2 books for the whole family?! A bible and a book about nature! And one porcelain doll as the extent of your household decorations? And when you ate a meal, you washed each plate because there was only 1 plate and cup per person? and when you moved across the country all of your possessions could fit into one small covered wagon?! 

Wouldn't it be nice to have less stuff and clearer spaces?

OUR POSSESSIONS NEED CLEANING (constantly)...

Who likes to clean? OK, vacuuming might be the most relaxing part of my day. But seriously, the rest of it can GO. These days we have bigger and bigger houses and more and MORE square feet to clean. And we have way more clothes, shoes, toys, books, knickknacks and piles of stuff to pick up, wipe down, dust and vacuum around. Getting your house clean can feel good but I'd rather feel good doing a million other things like reading a really great book or magazine article, or going on a walk with a friend, or popping popcorn and watching funny videos with my kids. Now those things feel GOOD.  The more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to clean and cleaning takes time and effort that you could be spending doing really awesome things!

OUR POSSESSIONS ARE WORRISOME

There are already a lot of things in life to worry about--like who's going to run this great nation of ours if all we have to choose from are the two most ridiculous candidates our country has ever known? Or how can I make sure my 3 super-charged thrill-seeking sons and 1 extremely handsome but even more thrill-seeking husband stay alive amidst their many crazy stunts? Or how can I get my daughter to grow up healthy and strong if all she is willing to eat is Doritos and Top Ramen?

Yeah, there's already a lot to worry about Why let our stuff be one of them?  

What are the many ways stuff makes you worry?  Well....

* you might worry about your junk getting lost or stolen or dropped or cracked or ruined. 

* you might worry about other people borrowing all your stuff and not returning it.

* you might worry about your stuff getting lost and not being able to find it (hate that!)

* you might worry about who you can give your stuff to when you die.

* you might worry about people stopping by and accidentally seeing all of your stuff.

* you might worry about how your stuff is taking over your house and you cant' stop it!

Stuff makes us worry.  And worry gives us gray hair, wrinkles and ulcers. Enough said.

OUR POSSESSIONS ARE CLIMBED OVER, HIDDEN, AND APOLOGIZED FOR

Remember that part about worrying that someone will stop by and see your stuff? Is that just the beginning for you? 

How grumpy do you get when you look around your house and realize you are not in control, your stuff is? It's multiplied like rabbits during the night, you're pretty sure, and you have no say in where it lands or where it goes?

How embarrassed do you get when someone stops by the house and as they step into the entry way you feel an intense need to explain why your home looks like laundry day/moving day/Christmas Day all rolled into one?

How mortified are you when a guest asks to use your restroom and you immediately start praying that they won't open any of the cupboards or closets looking for a towel? and they won't happen to glance in any of the bedrooms as they walk by to get to the potty?

How many "heated discussions" have you had with your significant other or child about the amount of junk you/they have and refuse to get rid of but yet can't seem to tame? 

Isn't it sad how many really ugly feelings our junk gives us? Once I was in the home of a very lovely, kind and sweet lady. It was Easter and we were invited to eat dinner there among family and friends. It was mentioned that we were out of olives and that there more in the larger pantry in the basement so I offered to go get them. Almost immediately, this normally sweet and docile lady got agitated.  There was no way she was going to allow me to see her messy basement and she insisted that only her immediate family was allowed down there. In trying to reassure her that I did not care in the least about the condition of her basement and her piles of stuff down there, I thought I could defuse the situation and calm her down. Nope. Instead, she got even more agitated and angry--on Easter Sunday no less--and, in the end, I did not go get the olives.  But I did walk away with a life lesson.  NO AMOUNT OF STUFF IS WORTH THAT KIND OF EMBARRASSMENT AND WORRY. It's part of the curse of affluence and I hate it.

OUR POSSESSIONS TAKE US AWAY FROM WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT

One of the most profound testimonials I have ever read on this subject, comes from an anonymous source. I wish I knew this lady and her story better but here's what she says in her own words:

"I have never been much of a housekeeper.  I don’t know why it’s so hard for me.  My mother was immaculate and super organized.  My house is always a disaster.  I can remember only one time when I really felt in control—like I was doing a decent job as a housewife.  It was while we were having our new house built.  We sold our old home too soon and had to move into a small rental place for three months.  We put everything but the bare necessities into storage.  All we kept out were our clothes, some bedding and dishes, a few of the kids’ favorite toys and the TV—that was about it.  I have never felt so good in my life!  I felt the house was clean for the first time because there was so little to pick up.  I had more time for the kids and enjoyed them more than I ever remember enjoying them.  We were happy and relaxed.  Until the day the moving van pulled up in front of our new house.  As they started to unload all of our boxes of extra clothes and bedding and toys and all of my stacks of sewing and unfinished projects and our extra decorations and knickknacks and over 600 books and record albums and all of my garage sale furniture that I still haven’t refinished and our souvenirs and papers and boxes, I felt myself slipping right back into my old pit again--right back feeling depressed and overwhelmed and helpless.  Right now I’ve still got piles of these boxes unopened in the basement.  I dread going through them but I’m scared to get rid of them because something good might be inside."

Can you relate? 

And, more importantly, did you catch that? 
"I have never felt so good in my life!"

And you parents....did you catch this?
"I had more time for the kids and enjoyed them more than I ever remember enjoying them."

Do you need any more convincing than that? 

Our stuff clutters up our lives and takes us away from PEOPLE and RELATIONSHIPS! 

That's what's wrong with too much.

Next posts' topic:  "Then why do we do it?"

"Houston....we have a problem"

We kind of have a lot of stuff.

You might not believe it but we're rich....and can buy a lot of stuff.

And then we buy more stuff. 

and more

and more.

And then we can't get rid of it.

And our stuff overtakes our lives.

And we're grumpy about it.

Houston....we have a PROBLEM.....

and we're not quite sure what to do about it.

We try to give our stuff away....

or sell it for REALLY cheap....

but everyone has the same problem as us. 

They have too much stuff too.

Did you know?

1. There are 300,000 items in the average American home (LA Times).

2. The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years (NPR).

3. Over the course of our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items. We lose up to nine items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime including sunglasses, phones, keys, and paperwork (The Daily Mail).

4. 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle. (U.S. Department of Energy).

5. The United States has upward of 50,000 storage facilities, more than five times the number of Starbucks. (SSA).

6. British research found that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily (The Telegraph).

7. The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was 9 (Forbes).

8. The average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year (Huffington Post).

9. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education (Psychology Today).

10. Shopping malls outnumber high schools. And 93% of teenage girls rank shopping as their favorite pastime (Affluenza).

(from www.becomingminimalist.com)

HOUSTON....we have a PROBLEM!

We are rich. 

And we buy a LOT of stuff.

And it fills up our houses and garages and spaces.

And then sometimes we pay to put our stuff in "junk jail" (aka a storage unit) and go visit it every once in a while....and try to figure out how to get it out of there...and pay a lot of money every month to keep it, just in case we might ever need it and can find a place in our home for it.

And it's not just a stuff problem.

It's an economic problem.

We buy books at Costco for $24.99 and then can't sell them for $1 to the used bookstore.

We buy jeans at the mall for our teenage son for $90 and then Goodwill can't sell them for $3.99.

We buy stuffed animals at Sea World or Disneyland for $30 and then can't GIVE THEM AWAY at our neighborhood yard sale.

But we are rich....and so we don't care. 

And we just keep buying it anyway.

And then wonder why we are drowning in stuff.

Houston....we have a PROBLEM!