Simplify, simplify. ~ Thoreau

[socialjustice_fsu]

So as I am sorting through enough photographs to wallpaper the Lincoln Memorial and the stacks of books that would rival a small town library...I ponder...how did it get like this? This 'abundance' has moved from a blessing to a curse. So hence...this thread has been born. At 2 AM this Wednesday I am going to start my own process of simplifying my life...be it tangible or intangible.

Here's the jest...What two things can YOU do to simplify your life right now?

For example: Gather up all your old magazines (the one's you set aside for a year or so) and take them to an Assisted Living Facility just down the road.

Hang a magnetic list/pad on the frig. so when you run out of something you can write it down right away instead of making 4 extra trips to the grocery...

Okay...here is what I am doing:

1. I have sorted through all of my books and will be taking them (maybe close to 200 books sans my Butch-Femme erotica) to our independent bookstore so they can send them onto the Books for Prisoners Program.

2. I have compiled all my warranty paperwork on stuff I own and put it in a 3 ring binder for easy access.

Please share your ideas...

[Gentle Tiger]

Interesting timing for this thread. Thank you! One of my birthday goals has been to simplify my life and let go of the clutter. I am in the process of moving. I've decided to get rid of the excess weight, let go of the past and make room for my future. So for this move I am doing doing several things but two major steps are:

1. Sorting, filing and shredding/recycling three boxes (and counting) that just have just gone with me from place to place. Some things just do not need to be kept!

2. Donating 100 books (and counting). I will have to see who does the Books for Prisoners program where I live. That's a good idea. Thanks

I'm looking forward to reading what others are doing.

[Diva]

One thing that worked for me:

When I decided to finally get to my Dad's room and redo it, I emptied everything out of it...to the dining room/gathering space....THEN, I would be forced to deal with it. I redid the room ~ NOW called The Red Room (See Gallery for before & after shots) ~ and put the things in there I wanted.....sans clutter!

It was SO liberating!

And I'm whittling away at the crap in the dining/gathering space....it has wound up filed away, thrown away or given away, but not back in The Red Room!

[Stearns]

In keeping my clothes closet as minimal as possible, I'm pretty good with the adage, "If you haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it." There's a Goodwill near my house, which makes it really convenient.

My outside storage closet, however, is a different matter. It needs a serious overhaul. I've let it get out of control with tools, car wash items, boxes, etc. I tend to pre-plan in my mind what to get rid of. I just need to do it.

[Gentle Tiger]

Another practice that is helping is to go paperless as much as possible. Do I really need the original or can I scan it and keep an electronic copy. Do I really need to keep the item at all? Really?

What's helped me get through these boxes of documents has been asking this question - did I even know it was in this box? Have I thought about this item in my hand? No? Out it goes.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?! :blink:

I'm sure no one else can relate. LOL

[greco]

socialjustice_fsu,

This is an excellent thread. There are those that say that one
must change their beliefs to more productive, positive ones.

I have found that taking an action on change has worked best
for me. For example, I also have had many, many books, on
many subjects, so as I began to get them boxed for donating
to my local library, memories of all they contained came up
for me.

They reminded me that the knowledge I read in those books I
had in fact made choices about, that I agreed, or did not agree,
that I learned something new, and productive to carry me
forward. So, it was in the act of clearing, and boxing up that
I discovered that I no longer needed those books because
I had learned from them and no longer needed their physical
presence.

So, I say clutter. Begin to unclutter, and stay mindful of the
feelings that come up as one unclutters...that for me is where
the learning is, action. Great thread.

Greco

[Blade]

When my neighbor decided to rent his house out after his son got married and the untimely death of his wife, he made a plan.

He took one room at a time and made 3 piles....KEEP....DUMP...CHARITY aka Goodwill etc. It took him a while, the house is huge and Cindy was a decorator. You couldn't put your hand on a wall or the top of something that she didn't have something else right beside it. She must have had 200 chicken items and probably 500 squirrel items and I don't have a clue what all else. But it was all very clean and well organized, so at least he didn't have a mess to clean up and all the stuff to sort thru.

I'm thinking this through in my brain and haven't decided exactly where to start. I did start the kitchen this week on my day off. Call me ADD, I also started my bedroom and no I didn't finish either but hey they are started. I'll be back when I come up with a plan.

[Waldo]

I, as June and a few others can attest, live a very spartan life. I keep nothing in my home that doesn't dignificantly enrich my life. Friends, family and loved ones have all, at various times, complained that I'm the hardest personto shop for because there's nothing that I want. Which, strictly speaking, is not true.

But having lived in four different states in less than a year I got really good at determining what was important and what wasn't.

But the turning point for me really came years earlier while I was living in New Mexico and the Bosque was on fire. We were just blocks from the fire and they were evacuating everyone. They'd already come down out block on the bull horn and let us know that we were on evacuation alert. I started gathering all the things which would devastate me if I lost them. Fortunately they all fit in a single box.

The box may have changed to something a bit more decorative, but the conents haven't changed much at all. What's in the box is all of the "things" that really matter to me. Everything else is a matter of "do I really want to take this into the next chapter of my life?" or "will it cost me more to move/ship than it will to replace?"

It's a pretty awesome way to live.

[Nina]

I am a big collector...

I am very tidy and organized so, the things IN the house are in order...

I have two Big storage units in the back yard which I put in...it is they that hold the mystery items...I plan to get someone to haul all the stuff Out of the sheds, sort through and be ruthless...I donate things all the time, from the house that is, and will donate from the shed...part of the 'issue' is that much of the collections have value, as in can be sold, and I don't like the selling part...I did ebay for a while, and I sold stuff, but who has the time or effort for that?...

I have lots and lots of collectable plates, glass wear, and the like...

I have boxes and boxes of vintage children's books...

I have tons of sorted through, bagged, vintage costume jewelry...

and more...

I am still planning how to deal with it all...

today I am going to office depot and getting a shredder...I have papers which gotta go, but not as an unwelcome access to my personal info...

the whole sorting and purging is top of my list...I need to get to it before the rain starts...

but, I have to step up the sewing for the holiday shows...even typing this I feel overwhelmed...I need a sorting partner

oh dear!

[chefhottie25]

just a few days ago i went through my tshirts...4 dresser drawers of them. i managed to lose 2 drawers worth...donated to my sister and goodwill. i also went through a massive collection of cooking magazines that i haven't thrown out in 2 years. i donated them to the mental health clinic that i go to. i was tired of reading the same 1 year old sports illustrated while i waited for my appointments. it made me feel good too. the receptionists at the clinic were so grateful for the donation. it inspired me to buy the clinic a subscription to food and wine magazine. now they will be current on at least one periodical.

[Gemme]

I'm what I call a sentimentalist. Short of a hoarder but more than a minimalist, I have kept the things that remind me of good things/times and/or lessons I
need(ed) to learn. I keep family albums and my writing from high school, for example. I don't have a lot of tchotchkes though I do tend to acquire a lot of clothing in my life and I regularly purge so that it doesn't become completely overwhelming.

Right now, I'm in a studio, so even though I've purged quite a bit before my move, it's a little more than what is reasonable for the space Organic and I share. Is it more than I need, per say? Absolutely. Do the items I have contribute to my life in a meaningful way? Most of the time, yes. There are things that I can do without and a bunch of them are in a garbage bag in my trunk, awaiting a stop at the local Goodwill.

I'm very fortunate that Organic is not a big collector of things.

I can honestly say both Organic and I are looking forward to moving to a larger place next year, not so we can get more stuff to fill the space but so we can spread what we do have out, so it's more airy and open.

[Nat]

For example: Gather up all your old magazines (the one's you set aside for a year or so) and take them to an Assisted Living Facility just down the road.


Alternative suggestion: If any of your old magazines are feminist, gay or otherwise subversive, stop by your local hospital or clinic and leave them in the lobby/waiting areas along with the "Good Housekeeping" and "Reader's Digest". :)

[LipstickLola]

I work in a hospital, the waiting rooms are always needing current reading materials, I like to replace the worn, tattered magazines and paper back books with ones from home, or that have been given to me, keeps down the clutter. I love books, so it's very difficult for me to give them away, I keep hardbacks, maybe some day I can let them go as well.

Also? being the mom of a disabled child who works for Goodwill Industries, and seeing 'Goodwill' mentioned in this thread makes me smile. It's good folks like you, who keep people like her employed.

Lola

[Gentle Tiger]

One important thing is to remember how you got in the complicated mess that now requires you to simplify. It is so easy to replace the clutter after you've worked so hard to get rid the mess whether physical, emotional or spiritual. Sometimes we do it without even thinking!

Just thought I'd put that out there because I had to catch myself on a couple of things.

[Diva]

One important thing is to remember how you got in the complicated mess that now requires you to simplify. It is so easy to replace the clutter after you've worked so hard to get rid the mess whether physical, emotional or spiritual. Sometimes we do it without even thinking!

Just thought I'd put that out there because I had to catch myself on a couple of things.



I know exactly how it happened for me......

When I came out, my ex-husband kicked me out of the house with what I could fit in my car. I basically had nothing after having 2 children, a 4-bedroom home, and every luxury one could imagine. All of a sudden, I had nothing.

So when I relocated with nothing, I was in a studio apt. with some clothes, a Dollar Store frying pan & sauce pan, 3 wooden spoons, paper plates and plastic cups & cutlery.

When I received my settlement, I went a little crazy to try and create a sense of normalcy for myself. At the time, that meant 'things'.

And now, as I begin to simplify ~ the physical AND emotional ~ I'm finding out what is TRULY important in my life, and divorcing myself from the stuff that is not....it gets easier and easier.

[Bit]

Well, I know it doesn't quite fit the direction the thread is headed in right now--that "get rid of" direction--but the way we just simplified our lives was buying things at a moving sale.

1. File cabinet and book case so we can finally get all the boxes and tubs emptied, and tea carts so we can get the kitchen working better.

2. Tupperware and Pyrex so I can finally take things to potlucks and bake sales without a hassle.

One of the things I've learned over the years through divorces, moves, and floods, is that I *will* repeatedly replace the things which are important to me if I lose them in my life, and that says to me that they must be more than clutter... so since I'm not going to get rid of them, I might as well get the furniture that makes them work properly.

[AtLast]

In 2000, my LTR of 21 years ended, my Mom and a sister had recently died and I closed a business and moved to a place that I knew no one (even though it is close to my childhood home). I did become involved again, for 6 years. She also died.

My partner and I owned a house together which was mostly furnished with my stuff and I ended up with both my Mom's and sister's personal effects, plus all the furniture in my office. I moved from a 2600 square foot house into an 1100 square foot condo! I gave family members a lot of stuff, but I had so much stuff and was so depressed at the time, I just stored most of what was left.

It took years to face this and part with so many things. I did keep a couple of items like my Mom's bedroom suit, but I had enough extra furniture for 4 families! Plus, I am a collector of things.

Now, I am in a time of my life in which I just really don't want what I don't need and am in preliminary planning for re-location. I'm retired and have some severe arthritis and just need to be in a different climate. I also really want to have a more quiet life and am tired of the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area in CA. Also, this is just not a place to live as I want to on fixed retirement funds.

I am going to have to part with many of the items that do have sentimental value to me, but I just seem to be willing to do so. I think this is just part of falling in with the life stages I am in. Finally, making this decision and starting to plan out when I need to have my house ready to sell has helped. it takes a good six months to get a place ready to sell and it is best to have as little possible in it while being shown. I rented a studio I have to a friend, but she will only be here for about a year and that will fit in with my needing to have the place to myself to prepare for selling it. I will get my kid and a couple of nephews here to help me out with painting, repairs and staging for prospective buyers. My guess is that I will just stay in my RV while it is being shown because it is a pain to be living in a house when trying to sell it- you never know when an agent will be bring someone to look at it. And everything has to be spotless for showings and open-houses. Rather just be in my little house on wheels and not worry about it, plus I don’t want it to look cluttered with a bunch of furniture and stuff. So, the later date to have it sold is September of 2012, hopefully a few months sooner. If I can get all of the stuff out of it (will have to do some storage again, but nothing like before) by November-December of 2011, that would be great. Even with declines in home sales prices here, I have good equity in my place and I want to turn that into more of the life I want to be living. Hell, if I miss SF, I'll visit as a tourist! There are many other places I want to re-visit and others that I have never been to- just in the US! I have to have this phasing plan as I do have some disability issues that make doing all of this a much slower process for me. So, I need to just get it in motion!

Mainly, I want to simplify... that really is at the root of this! And explore more. There is so much that I used to think I needed that I just don't want anymore. I want to travel and do some of that leisure-time thing I hear about! Other areas have much better real estate prices. Perhaps meeting a woman in the same space might happen, but, who knows and I am just not really invested in doing so right now.

Yes, simplification! Interesting, I remember my Mom hitting this time in her life and didn't understand it fully. Now, I do!

[citybutch]

I have started to NOT listen to the radio as I drive around to see clients. Somehow it has helped to de-clutter my mind... less mental idiotic stimulation brings more peace...

When I DO listen to something I listen to Ekhart Tolle on CD...

[diamondrose]

Two things I am doing to simplify my life..


1. Shopping clearance to save money and buy more :D
2. Organizing my school schedule to get on a good routine.

[AtLast]

I have started to NOT listen to the radio as I drive around to see clients. Somehow it has helped to de-clutter my mind... less mental idiotic stimulation brings more peace...

When I DO listen to something I listen to Ekhart Tolle on CD...

I love this! I am a political person and have always thrived on current events, but, I have to say that due to so many left-wing, progressive talk radio hosts begining to sound just like the right-wingers (not content, the manner of speaking- no yelling), these shows just ramp me up to a steady state of anxiety and dred. Give me Charlie Rose and text to read! Thom Hartmann is OK, too.

Talk radio- no matter the political stance- has become nothing but loud noise to me.

I agree, less clutter while driving!

[Diva]

I am coming back to this thread because I needed to.

A couple of months ago, I had a significant event in my life which has changed me. It has not been a pleasant change. I have 3 very dear friends who tell me I am being too hard on myself, but it really pisses me off that it has changed me and my outlook on many things. I am struggling to find a way to cope and I keep coming back to a more minimalistic lifestyle.

So I turned to Google and found >> THIS (http://www.becomingminimalist.com/)<<

It is helping me get rid of a lot of clutter....and not just the physical stuff, either.

All I know is that SOMEthing has to change in me. I have placed too much importance on things and people and events and less on peace and calm, my spirit's survival and the earth itself.

[Gemme]

Yesterday and today have been and are being devoted to this theme. It's a long road but we're getting there.

[Cajun_dee]

Diva I love the link you posted, especially the cookbook!

for me, I lost material things in a Katrina. I lost all the things I thought I "Could not live without";

my Disney salt and pepper shakers
Boat (that was a hard one)
ceramic knick knack thing that lived by the door for 10 years
rock collection
CD's
softball gear
etc....



Of course I could live without them! I can't tell you how good it feels not really feeling connected to *things* anymore. I still have sentimental items that I hold close but the unimportant clutter is gone and I realized the memories are never lost.

What I hold dear now are people, and the memory of the one special friend that I lost in the storm, not knick knacks. The memory of a City I loved before the storm changed everything. The what nots just don't matter anymore. Simplifying feels great!

[guihong]

I'm glad I found this thread. Ever since I got back from Washington, I've been thinking about how much clutter is in my life-not just stuff, but mental habits and wrong beliefs just taking up rent space. I'm really feeling a need not only to clean out my house, but to clean out my inner house, too. Too much spiritual, mental and physical clutter (ie. fat) here.

Getting rid of things and donating stuff is a tangible way to do it :). That makes me feel good.

[Cajun_dee]

Freecycle is a great resource to clean out the clutter too!

It's been proven that cleaning out a closet is emotionally cleansing!

[DamselFly]

when i moved, i left behind most of my "stuff". the only things i brought w/me are some clothes, my teapots, my Taoist/Buddhist books (even though i can't read them at this time), and my altar. having little stuff gives a sense of freedom...as Lao-Tzu said,
to have little is to possess.
to have much is be perplexed.
a good blog to go to for writings on minimalism is zenhabits. i have it on my igoogle page. once at the end of every season, i do a "housecleaning" and donate the clothes i haven't worn that season. i figure if summer has gone by and i haven't worn something, i probably won't wear it next summer and don't need it. my objective is to get a week's worth of clothing for each season. that's it. always feminine, of course.
DamselFly:glasses: