I recently watched a Netflix documentary on minimalism and this makes me wonder does this even work. The thing is line that got me hooked is when Joshua states “But really, I was just a well-organized hoarder”. Now that is true I would consider myself a “well-organized hoarder”. I have too much stuff that I can not even reconnect with i.e. old clothes, outdated electronics, old paperwork, kitchen equipment, old whiskies (ahh absurd this I will still hoard).
If you have not seen the documentary, then I am linking it below:
Then I see these other YouTube videos that are again on minimalism but so extreme. That I would not even like to go that far, having only one spoon or glass or just 33 clothes to wear. This type of extremism is not logical for me. But I do believe in getting rid of things that I don’t use.
Here is what I think decluttering or organizing will not work for me, I am way beyond that line. Now how do I know that? When clothes in the rack have an item at the bottom that has not been used for a year it’s time to let go. When you buy an item that goes missing in your own house you should know there is too much stuff.
Looking at the scenario I started the toughest job, getting rid of some stuff. No ifs or buts, with no emotions I started cleaning. I trust me I didn’t know I had 100+ T-shirts, pants and jeans that don’t even fit me in my wardrobe. I had two trunks in my house full of stuff that I didn’t even know that I had these items. I sorted out everything and slowly I also started finding things that were missing.
In the whole process of getting rid of old things. I stumbled upon six staplers and it’s just me and my wife who stay here that is 3 staplers per person. This leads me to think that we actually wasted our money by buying these again and again.
Not only this I also found my old cell phones, CDMA by Reliance (no longer usable), old bold and curve Blackberries (the company shut mobile operations in 2016).
Now, I ask myself why do I have so much of stuff. But this is not the end of the story, I am now at a roadblock. See things that are mine, my clothes or my shoes I am free to get rid of. But there are some things that belong to the house. I am in the process of persuading my wife into broad minimalism. Will see what and how things develop in this area.
Coming back to the topic, when we buy an electronic item you know what comes hidden in the package? The “charging cable”, with phones, kindles, power bank and other things. I had 16 of them, the primary item is gone but the cables always remain back in your home. These things take space I have a whole bag full of things labelled as electronics. This I am still in the process of sorting out.
Let me end this post I am still in the process of minimizing my dependence on stuff and indeed it is helping me in placing things where it is supposed to be. But as I have already said I will not go to the extreme side of minimalism. Also, I want to live in a clutter-free space and focus on the things that matter.
