Ugh. I hit a wall with this decluttering thing. Everything I've gotten rid of has been a celebration, mostly because everything so far has been the easy stuff. I have a couple of things that I tried to sell, but other people didn't value the stuff like I did, so I had to donate it in the end– an exercise that is valuable to go through. None of you value this stuff like I do? Maybe I'm over-valuing it. I've been working on getting rid of stuff for years, but recently picked it up again with the serious intention to do the hard stuff– the memorabilia, the things with sunk costs I haven't been able to quite move beyond, the projects I still think I want to finish. Every weekend for the last couple of months has been getting rid of stuff. I'm utterly overwhelmed with how much STUFF I have. Why, why, why? Whine, whine, whine. This overwhelm is why I'm getting rid of it. But wow, it's emotionally exhausting.
A couple of weeks ago I came across an article entitled something like, "Have we Reached Peak Declutter?" I didn't read the article at the time, and so I don't know what it was really about, but the title says a lot, and I've been thinking about it. When I first started getting rid of things in a serious way, all I could see were benefits. But I also know that this whole idea of minimalism is part of the come-and-go fads that overtake the media. Designers, professional organizers, home products, and the very "look" of recent publications have all been capitalizing on the conspicuous consumerism of what's billed as a decluttered look. As with all trends, the masses are apparently ready to move on.
Of course, there's also a lot of backlash against decluttering and minimalism. This is the top article when I googled "peak decluttering" and I can count myself and my family within that socioeconomic group who can afford to buy something again if we need to. I see the benefits of decluttering, but of course, I have the luxury of doing all this on the weekends because both my husband and I work weekday jobs that pay our bills, plus more. Minimalism is considered by many to be nothing more than another rich way to posture and purchase new, expensive, minimalist-styled housewares and furniture.
The thing is, in my mind, this getting rid of stuff is taking an honest look at what I've accumulated (because I have the money and luxury to accumulate), and live through the guilt and shame of all the conspicuous consumerism I've participated in over the years, and then not consume it all again. We're not looking to redecorate, put new fancy art on the walls, or even buy new dishes. We're keeping the cracked and chipped ones, just fewer of them. Rather than me storing broken things that I could fix and use again, I'm making the honest effort to not need that thing that is broken, and to not replace it.
If I were to die suddenly, my family would be forced to go through all my stuff. They would have no idea what was really, truly valuable to me, and what was ultimately just stuff. To any other person in the entire universe, my stuff is only just stuff. I'm keeping the important things. I'm just being clear on how to determine what is important, and only keeping the things that are valuable to me.
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