I am starting to realize that the extra stuff in our house is a problem. It costs us money (buying another one because we cannot find it), adds stress, and adds more work (like cleaning). I want to get rid of most of it but, for me, this is not so easy. I want to express my thoughts about my junk but I am having trouble organizing my them, so I am going to write a series of related posts.
I have been considering the times when I had significantly less. One of these times was when I was in college.
In college, I lived in a dorm and owned significantly less. Almost everything could fit into one room. I knew when something was missing, and everything fit in my truck. If I lost everything I would only be out a few bucks (no need to insure all of my stuff). There was less dusting, cleaning, sweeping, organizing etc. My time was focused on learning and having fun with friends. I feel like the freedom I had back then was partially because I owned less stuff.
After that time I gradually started acquiring more stuff. But why? I think there are many reasons.
Just a note, researchers say that learning and socializing are two of the key items that we need for happiness. It is interesting that these are priorities at the beginning of our lives, then many of us neglect these in the middle of our lives, and then hope to have them at the end of our lives.
I realize that I cannot go back to living that way and there are more things that I need (or do I “need” them) like a kitchen but there are a lot of things that I can take away from considering that time in my life.