Stuff and the departure of stuff
The house.
I have a talent. My talent is gathering Stuff. For someone who moves almost every year and a half, I have a tremendous amount of stuff. I feel like I get rid of it all and like a starfish, it grows back.
this time, no.
It's just...we have a two story HOUSE here. It's huge for two people. And up until a week ago every time you opened a closet things of interest fell out. Not always great things of interest. So being who I am, I went to the library, got some books on clutter and started reading and tossing stuff. Donate donate donate.
Here's the thing- I am sentimental (you are laughing, right? Like you could read this thing without knowing that) and I have a lot of mementos. Too many. And I'm down to the time in my life where I need, need to streamline and focus. I know what i want to do and it looks like this:
Produce my own short film
Produce other people's projects
Write
Costume (note, I'm not a designer, I am more an on set dresser/shopper)
Act
Mommy
And that's it. So everything else that is kind of hovering and cluttering and gunking up really needs to go. That means I first unloaded all books I wasn't going to read again. And then I narrowed down the ones I do read to, "Can I get this at the library?" and if so, I let it go. Clothes I was harsh about, thinking of them as employees that must work to merit their space in my closet. The costume/props rooms that I have will be organized and need to hashed through harshly. But even so it feels like... too much. You would simply not believe the amount of cosmetics I own for someone who doesn't wear make up daily.
Here's how I work: I've gotta clean before I work creatively. So the easier it is to do that, the easier it is to work. But now I'm down to certain truths.... I don't really "see" framed photos on the wall anymore. There are a few paintings and posters I like but I'm not such a framed photograph person. I prefer to keep them jammed in the books I do have so I find them as I am reading.
And it isn't that my house and home isn't organized. Yes, it is, very well, in fact. But it is still too much.
I'm wondering about your philosophy of stuff? I want to hear it. This is the most radical I've been at getting rid of things in a long time but I feel a sea change.
I need a new philosophy. Right now I've applied the idea that if I'm meh about it, someone might really find and love that it is a treasure. The way I feel about my fuzzy black coat, for example. I bought that years ago in a thrift store for $15.00 and I just spent $75 having it relined as I'd rather that than ten black coats or any other coat.
How sparse are you about what you own?