06/13/09

Mark this date. We will have our home decluttered on or before this date. It is the date of the annual town-wide garage sale. And we will be active participants in the cause. Someone will value our junk more than we do. And whatever isn't sold will be donated to charity. Clutter will be out of our way, out of our home, out of our lives. This is our goal.

A liberating endeavor

It's been a couple of weeks since we've started on our crusade to reclaim our space and our lives. Fueled by Peter Walsh's book, It's All Too Much, we've begun the process.

It's amazing how attached we are to our stuff. Frugality and resourcefulness have always been our fortes, but now are our biggest hurdles. We can think of a million uses for the various trinkets and paraphernalia that we've collected over the years. We hang onto things, believing that someday we'll make use of the items when we have more time. Who knows? Maybe if everything was put on display, people would pay fortunes just to learn who we are and why we've hung on to such an eclectic mix of junk. $100 a head. Any takers?

The sad thing is that the stuff that we tenaciously have hung on to do not really define who we are (other than resourceful pack rats, because, who knows? we might get around to making use of the three mismatched glasses that we have in our cupboard).

The past several weeks have been liberating. It is amazing how much peace comes with getting rid of the extra baggage that we've been carrying around for years. We've spent fortunes acquiring junk that really has no value and doesn't serve a purpose for us any more.

For any who may be considering decluttering, do it. You'll be amazed at how much better you feel about your life as you clear out the cobwebs of yesteryear.

The things you own end up owning you

We're the typical American family: two cars, two kids, two credit cards, two 401Ks, and too much stuff...probably not that different from everyone else that we know. While we're not always up on the lastest and greatest, we're certainly stuff-magnets. We've got lots of it.

We've got to find a way to declutter our lives and reclaim our independence from the piles of stuff. We're on a decluttering crusade. As a way to motivate us and keep track of our progress, we're logging everything (or most everything) that we get rid of (and letting all of our junk get uploaded onto the world's greatest collection of junk).

But we won't stop there. As most of us know, de-junking and reaccumulating are cyclical. We're out to discover what keeps us accumulating junk and figure out how to keep it at bay.

So, here goes...and let's hope that our next move doesn't require the 26 footer...