Friday, February 12, 2010

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Yes, we're going to address the Big Ones today: those things that are physically large and take up way too much space in your home, but that you don't want to talk about.

That too-heavy-to-lift desk from your self-employed brother-in-law whose business went belly up. It's sitting silently in the corner of your family room, piled with unused coats, DVD cases, your bicycle helmet, and books to return to the library.

The extra sofa you bought and are storing in the garage for your daughter who's away working on her graduate degree.

The four-wheeler parked out back that you haven't ridden in eight years.

The five-piece suitcase set stuffed in the spare bedroom closet. You used the carry-on bag once, but don't want to get rid of them all because you paid so much and "it's a set."

The piano you never play but bought for your son when he was taking lessons twelve years ago. He's a military man now.

The extra refrigerator you keep in the garage and plug in once a year when you host your family barbecue.

The chalkboard from your unsuccessful attempt at homeschooling.

The antique bed frame, in pieces, awaiting repair.

The rototiller.

The jogging stroller.

The tent trailer.

The sewing machine.

The kayak.

The pool table.

The wooden console tv.

These examples may not be your elephants, but if you mindfully walk around your home, garage, and property, you will instantly know your own elephants. If you're honest with yourself, you will admit you don't currently use any of those things, yet there they sit, taking up valuable floor and mind space, nagging at you to DO SOMETHING, to BE SOMETHING "better" than who you are: "Exercise! Travel! Take up music! Garden! Educate! Refinish! Camp! Quilt! Play! Watch!"

Listen to me friends: who you are is PRICELESS. You are enough, just as you are.

If any of your elephants can easily and safely be carried out to your car without hurting yourself, go do that. If your elephants are too bulky, heavy, or awkward, call a charity thrift store or a nearby church and offer to give them to whomever can move them (please be safe around people you don't know well). Donate those guilt-mongers to someone who loves to jog while pushing a baby stroller, refinish antiques, kayak, camp, stitch, or till up dirt.

You are enough, just as you are.


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

NEEDS, WANTS, AND JUNK

Think for a minute about your BASIC HUMAN NEEDS. Not wants, but needs. Shelter, food and water, clothing, and medical attention when necessary. That's it. EVERYTHING ELSE YOU OWN IS OPTIONAL.

Look around wherever you're at right now. All the things you see, unless they are sustaining your very life, are not necessary. You do not need an eight piece living room set in order to stay alive. You do not need a hybrid in your garage. You do not need forty three pair of shoes. You don't need a laptop. You don't need three hundred music CD's. You might want all these things, but you do not need them to sustain your life.

Every purchase you make can be easily classified into one of three categories:

1. life-supporting
2. life-enhancing
3. life-draining.

Basic human needs are life-supporting. Those purchases are necessary and are NOT (usually) clutter. The home you're buying, the food in your shopping cart, the shoes to protect your feet, the blood pressure medication you require. NONE OF THESE PURCHASES ARE CLUTTER.

The objects that bring you joy and delight are life-enhancing. Maybe you love music so much that your collection of 300 CD's is not clutter to you, because music enhances your life. You don't need them to sustain life, but you desire them for the joy and pleasure they bring to you. The living room furniture enhances your life by it's beauty and usefulness to you, your friends, and family. The nail polish collection in your bathroom makes you happy and smile because it's FUN for you. NONE OF THESE PURCHASES ARE CLUTTER, although as your interests change and you grow and bloom into a more authentic version of you, some or all of what you currently enjoy may become clutter.

The objects that do nothing to sustain or enhance your life are life-draining. The bridesmaid dress hanging in your closet, the baby clothes from your youngest child who's now nine and playing little league, the bulky computer monitor you don't know what to do with, the boxes of left-over supplies from your attempt at direct sales, the ab cruncher machine (like anyone uses those), blue eye liner you wore once last year, files full of papers you don't know if you should keep, mismatched mugs in your kitchen that you use but don't really like. ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE CLUTTER.

And you can get rid of them, right now.