Stuff

A particular situation in my life has caused me to take inventory of everything I own. And I mean every little thing, from makeup to candles, pictures to books, prom dresses to ‘I’m not even sure what this is?’ items on a shelf. My conclusion: I have a lot of stuff.

To avoid the mental illness of a hoarder in the future, it’s time for a major spring cleaning undertaking. Looking at each item as objectively as possible and deciding if I would want to take it if I moved. As I've grown up from my childhood room at my parents house, to a dorm room, to an apartment of my own, my stuff has expanded to fill the space much like water in a jar. I don't use most of these things on a regular basis and often can't remember the motivation for purchasing it in the first place.

There are a lot of articles about the impact on clutter on your waking and sleeping life. I’m not going as hard core as this guy who only lives with just 15 possessions. There isn’t a magic number for me, rather a feeling that I’ve moved down to the essentials. Interestingly, most of the things that I want to keep are the things from my travels or gifts from people that I care about. It is fun (fun might be too strong a word- I really hate spring cleaning) to look at what matters.

What items can you not live without?