Clutter By: BonBonMom Flickr
Lately I have spent a lot of time in conversation with a friend who is downsizing. They have spent the last couple years downsizing in stages. First they sold their house in Arizona and packed the belongings they wanted to keep in military storage. Next everything that they didn’t want to keep was either sold or donated. I know that they donated jeep loads of stuff, day after day. It was quite a process; we talked often as she sorted and packed. I also visited at one point during their transition. Eventualy they were left with just the things that fit in two large travel back packs and what they were taking across country to their family.
The next stage after her husband’s retirement was a six month trip around the world. They kept a pace that amazes me even today, they were in city after city, country after country exploring, meeting other travelers, writing, and occasionally resting and relaxing.
Stage three, re-entry into life in the US, via a lake community in northern Maine, near their families. They bought a tiny lake front cottage that had been in the family for years. They spent the summer months preparing the house for winter living and buying the necesities they would need to live through winter in the far reaches of northern Maine. They survived and even thrived, working from home with their web based business and their writing careers while David took classes online. They survived some real challenges..plumbing or a lack of after a winter freeze took out their toilet and shower. Thus began the bucket brigade and a search for an eco toilet. Just when they thought they had survived the harshest conditions northern Maine was hit with spring floods.
Having grown up in Maine they were well aware of the conditions and had planned extensively, they had most things online so documents and business information were safe and secure. They had personal belongings ready to go and even the dogs belongings and food packed. News coverage said they had about 36 hours til they would need to depart and they were in the final stages of preparation when they awoke to several inches of freezing water on their floor and the dog waking them up. At that point they literally had minutes to get out as their SUV’s tail pipes were nearly underwater outside. With a row boat they made several trips with their dog, their computers, and what little belongings could be stuffed into backpacks quickly, knowing they had to get out before the cold water became dangerous to them and before their cars were unable to be driven. As it was, by the time they got out one vehicle was underwater to the tail pipe and couldn’t be driven. It was abandoned there.
What is my point in all this? My point is that this couple have done enormous downsizing. Compared to the average American they are living like the travelers they are. But what they learned is that they still had more downsizing to do. With the loss of their lake house in Maine, they decided to take the plunge and move to the tropical reaches of Florida. They researched, did their homework and went through the challenging process of buying a home in a downturned economy. They are now moved in and have spent the last few weeks sorting through their military shipment that arrived shortly before Christmas. Belongings they had not seen in nearly two years.
Even with the extensive downsizing they’d done in Arizona, they discovered that the energy and time required to own a house full of belongings is simply too much for the scaled down life style they desire. They are now in the midst of their third downsizing and they are feeling the energy of what it takes to release these final things. They sort through things, wondering, why did we keep this in the first place? I think we can all relate to that when we open a box of belongings we have saved and put aside for even a couple years.
Their ultimate goal, I think… being only an observer and friend in this situation is to own a house for the time being, finish the downsizing and create a means to have a very simple stateside residence that they can come home to between world adventures and jobs that may eventually take them to other continents. So what is my point in sharing all of this?
It’s the realization of the energy we use and consume in owning so many belongings. We are a society of people who consume and buy at a feverish rate…at least we did until the economy tanked and now I believe we are all considering our purchases and real needs. I’m as bad as the next person, seriously, I own a home and it’s filled with stuff. My fortune or misfortune to deal with is that it is mostly a house filled with the belongings and furniture of my father, who died unexpectedly five and a half years ago. When he died I was living overseas as a teacher in a one bedroom apartment in Berlin. So my belongings were never until now very extensive. My life, money and energy was spent on travel and overseas life. My father had beautiful things that I have come to treasure, and I have over the past five years done my own downsizing, from my father’s original 4,800 sq feet house to a more manageable 2,300 sq ft home.
I have donated literally truck loads to charity, I have given excess furniture to family members and friends. I have tried to lovingly give my father’s belongings to those who loved him, or would most benefit from them. It has been an exhausting and time consuming process. It was painful and emotional, so I can dearly understand Myscha’s days of struggle with the energy and challenge of their downsizing project.
Just today I spent about and hour and a half in my closet pulling things out and folding them into bags for charity and for friends. I feel like a pretty normal American woman and within an hour I filled to the brim two large garbage bags of shirts, pants, jackets and sweaters that I either never wear, that are too large, or just no longer my style. It is an embarrasing realization to see how much excess the average person has. Seriously how many shirts can we wear? We all have our favorites and mostly the rest get worn occasionally, ditto for pants and jackets. I counted, I have eight light zippered sweatshirt jackets in my closet. How did that happen? I love them all, so those I kept, but it just gives me pause to think about the excess. What does it do for us? Today by the time I
finished I was feeling the emotion and energy of sorting through my belongings. Clothes are a reminder of where we’ve been, who we’ve been and who we are now, so clearing them out was emotionally freeing.
What are you holding on to that doesn’t serve you? Are there things you need to clear out of your life to make way for new life, new energy, new adventures or simply the space to walk through your house without clutter.
