Getting rid of stuff has been surprisingly easy so far this time. I think mainly because I realised on Friday quite suddenly and chillingly, that I am a hoarder and have been a hoarder for most of my life. Bit of a shock, I thought I was just messy. Now when I look at some of the insane collections of things I have insisted on hanging on to, and adding to, it just seems completely bizarre behaviour. But I have to remind myself that I'm just a human bean living in a very confusing and unnatural culture. I am the perfect result of my experiences.
In the last few days I have donated two bootfuls to charity, given a number of bags and objects away on Freecycle, taken a bootful of broken recyclables to the tip, and filled a shameful 5 binbags with non-recyclable rubbish, as well as a couple of bags of paper waste. My house is still a mess, it's still full. There are areas where you can see a difference, but only if you know where to look. I have donated dozens of things that I've bought in the last year or two alone. I still haven't gone through my wardrobe, my jewellery, my sewing and knitting things, the kitchen, it goes on and on. I'm only just scratching the surface. It seems impossible that I genuinely didn't realise how bad things had become, but I didn't.
On a positive note, I really do feel lighter. I am walking taller, my thoughts are clearer, I feel focused and that I have more energy. Keep on going.
While decluttering is all I think or talk about, I think it would be a good idea to knock out a few rules, I'm good with rules:
- I will not own more things than I can practically use
- I will not keep anything that hasn't been used in a year
- I will not buy a new bag for life in any shop to spare the shame of having to buy a carrier bag. Obviously better yet I will always remember by bag for life.
- I will not browse online or in actual shops
- I will not hang onto objects for the sole reason that I have had them for quite a while
- I will not subscribe to anything that I have to pay for
- I will be gentle with the things I have and intend to keep and use them for the purpose they were designed for
- I will wear things out rather than buy a new thing when I'm bored, or my existing thing becomes tatty
- I will not use pinterest, instagram etc, any aspirational time-stealing platforms. Or read magazines
- I will immediately recycle/donate/dispose of things I no longer need
- I will not hoard secondhand books because 'books don't count'
- I will not hang onto things that are for either a future version of me, or a version of myself that I know is uncharacteristic.
No comments:
Post a Comment