Letting Go of Stuff. It Feels Good. Eventually.
Time to move again. Time to get rid of stuff . Yuck. Why is it hard to face the junk drawer? I’m a low clutter person. I can fit all my stuff into one small room and dance a jig in it. But each time I move, I manage to fill a bag and head to Goodwill. Where did I get this stuff, and why is this process so uncomfortable? Spring cleaning sounds sweet, but feels subtly stifling.
Some psychologists say that we have an irrational conviction that our stuff has a potential future value, which we’re somehow losing. I suppose some of my stuff might have a value, but I don’t really need a Marilyn Monroe costume and a platinum blond wig, and I probably don’t need the Chiquita banana hat either.
Apparently, super hoarders feel empathy with everything around them; they believe stuff has feelings that can be hurt. But I have another theory; maybe, we’re simply misplacing our love of this world, with the love of stuff, which doesn’t translate well. Surrounding yourself with innocuous gadgets does more harm than good. Even a messy desk can make you feel disorganized, anxious and even helpless. (Hear what George Carlin has to say about stuff.)
And what happens when you get rid of the excess? I couldn’t find a legitimate scientific study that articu
lated the joy of de-cluttering, but there are eight separate studies, which show that experience-related buys lead to more happiness, as opposed to buying stuff. Why? Experiences grow larger in the brain over time. We savor them. We remember our best moments and relive them again and again. Less stuff = a more enriching life (more or actually less).
I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.—Joseph Campbell
Minerva's Moxie 