Wednesday 19 October 2011

"The more you have, the more you are occupied. The less you have, the more free you are"


i am on another cycle of not going to work and being at home seems to keep me well occupied. today i decided i would try to rationalise some boxes of "stuff" from my wardrobe. i haven't looked at the stuff or years so i should be able to just bin it but you know how that goes, dont you?
i have a look and find all kinds of things that i'm not quite sure what to do with: a bag full of ribbon & lace from the sewing box of my grandmother, dead twenty years. silver cake forks black with tarnish could be beautiful but i dont live in a way that really appreciates those genteel accessories. there are photos and cards from my courting days, cards welcoming new babes, postcards never sent, random bits of stationery, the first fathers day card i gave my husband, reels of cotton, paper clips, outmoded cookbooks......

maybe i can get two boxes down to one?

18 comments:

  1. The only way I have ever managed to get two boxes down to one is by getting one very big box. I try, really I try, but ....For example, what do you do with silver cakeforks? It seems wrong to just toss them in the bin but where do they go. Who does live that sort of life now?

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  2. i did manage to get 2 boxes down to one! i threw out a whole lot of cards and letters and random buttons and stamp pads. still have the cake forks!

    now i have to do something with the box of books that sits in the hallway waiting to go to the salvos

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  3. Nah, no point in keeping tarnished cake forks you never use. Take a deep breath and bin them, I say. Same goes for all the sentimental stuff unless it's really really important to you. The less pointless clutter, the better....

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  4. I've been trying to do the same thing, Spesh - but it's difficult isn't it? There are some things that you can easily get rid of, but then there's other stuff that you just want to keep hold of. Either sentimentality rules, or not - you just gotta go with the flow.
    xxxx

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  5. nick,
    are you really that ruthless?

    pete,
    you must have less junk than i do. moving around forces you to get rid of stuff.
    yeah, it's hard but i'm not overly sentimental so thats a plus!

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  6. Yes! I don't even have any photos of me as a boy or a twenty something. I don't have any sentimental knickknacks passed down from my relatives either. My feeling is I have enough fond memories without the need for physical mementos. And there's enough clutter in our house already.

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  7. I sympathise. Helped Clare move out last weekend and couldn't understand how someone who's only left home for a year could accumulate enough 'stuff' to fill a bedroom. Really need to crack on with a little spring decluttering myself.

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  8. had the best friend over to help with the flat. Things are in a state of flux at the moment, so it's good to get the flat all nice...
    love ya Spesh xxx

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  9. It never fails that when I give up and get rid of something, I want it again very soon afterward.

    For the longest time I dragged around boxes of stuff going all the way back to junior high - notes, cards, diaries. One day I had a little fit and got rid of all of it.

    I wish I'd sifted through it first and kept at least a FEW things!

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  10. We enter the world with nothing and we leave it with nothing.

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  11. John, that's not true. Mostly we leave the world with a whole lot of junk that someone else has to get rid of.

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  12. but what if you wish to be occupied because being free is so risky?????

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  13. Nick,

    Looks like I should go on a big throw out and/or give aways.

    The alternative seems I should become like a Pharoah and be "buried" with it.

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  14. Wow! I go through stuff almost compulsively looking for something to get rid of, and I still own too much. It's truly easier to acquire than to get rid of--at least for me.

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  15. It's funny how stuff happens. Silently. Sneaking in during darkness. It's like dust. One day you realize there's just too much stuff.

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  16. Good luck. We had to organize the garage this past summer and it was ridiculous how much "stuff" we had and had kept through the years. I was really tempted to purchase a flame thrower. Hope it goes well.

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  17. please tell me that's a real picture from your house. please tell me that's a real picture from your house. please tell me that's a real picture from your house...

    ;)

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