I was at the mall yesterday. I needed just one thing. It's a huge, high-end mall with everything you can imagine. Even though it's only ten minutes away I rarely go there. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. So much stuff that no one really needs. I couldn't wait to get out of there.
This year I am going to start to "decontent." That means get rid of stuff. I have so much stuff I never use and should dispose of. I stop myself from buying more (usually). But every Christmas and birthday I am gifted more of it. I hate clutter. I tell friends I want to condense my life to four boxes. Not sure if I can really do that, but it sounds good in theory.
There's really not a lot of things I want. If I buy something, it's usually after weeks (or sometimes months) of consideration. Plenty of time to talk myself out of the purchase. Often it's just a replacement of something -- so no "net acquisition" of stuff.
The one thing I do want is a new house. The themes will be modern and minimalist. I want to keep it simple and smaller. I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet as I may be moving in the next year or two. Why put so much effort into creating my dream house only to sell it in a year? I need the right location. A high end metroburb is where I want to be. Compromise between city and suburbs, and walkable neighborhood.
Not surprisingly, we have the same tastes.
ReplyDeleteAfter dealing with 20+ years of my wife's clutter I relish the idea of having only the essentials...in a place no bigger than it needs to be...located in a neighborhood that's highly walkable. Gotta have a car though, with designated parking. No big city isolation for me.
I can't wait to see where you end up. I'm already envious.
I feel exactly the same as you do when I go into a mall, RB, and I usually wait weeks, like you, to make a decision about a purchase. I do have one weakness--buying books. However, I've made a conscious decision to stop buying books; they've got to come from the library now.
ReplyDeleteI have termed getting rid of stuff I don't need any longer "de-acquisition." I'm in the de-acquisitive stage of my life.
I'm going to retire in four years and one month, and I have to move from my house. I'm going to need to get rid of a lot of stuff I've accumulated over the last 26 years. I'd better get started now or I'll be paralyzed and overwhelmed if I wait until the end.
Two years ago, my mother-in-law needed to move from her house and into an assisted care facility. My wife and I went to clean out her house and my wife wanted to save a lot of her mother's things. Frankly, her mother was a bit of a pack-rat who loved to buy junky nick-knacks that I would have discarded, but now we have one room completely filled with her mother's junk--and we'll have to go through that stuff in addition to our own before we move.