Time to Declutter. Who Needs All This Stuff?

“So, what furniture are you taking with you?” I asked my aunt before her move. After twenty years of living in one apartment, she was moving to her new house by the lake. 

“None,” my aunt answered simply.

I didn’t expect her to move all her furniture, but I couldn’t believe she wasn’t going to take anything. She had a lot of nice pieces in immaculate condition. Wasn’t it wasteful to leave it all behind? According to my aunt, she had been looking at it for two decades. She had seen it long enough. She was tired of it.

For years, I found my aunt’s response baffling. Every time we moved, we purged and decluttered, but every time I viewed it as some emotional or financial loss. I wasn’t a hoarder, but I was clearly attached to certain things, especially if it was handmade, may it be the handwritten cards from my boys, drawings by my brother, or decorative tiles from Portugal or Mexico.

My husband was even worse. Coming from a family of collectors, he didn’t throw things away. He acquired and preserved things. His case wasn’t extreme, so it was not a problem on its own, but I wondered how he was going to purge his things before our upcoming move, which required serious downsizing.

Surprisingly, as we started combing through our rooms, the process turned out to be less daunting that we had expected. Actually it was quite pain-free, as if the sentimental capacity of the objects we surrounded ourselves with had expired. All those pre-iPhone photos seemed so blurry. Why had I not thrown them away sooner? My sons’ preschool workbooks were basically illegible. Why had I kept them in the first place. A random piece of artwork that only looked good in the bathroom, but we held on to it because it was a gift. I wish we knew from whom.

Piece by piece, our garbage bags and donation boxes filled up, while our shelves and closets got roomier. To my surprise, my collector husband was way more ruthless and efficient than I was. “I can’t wait to get rid of all this stuff,” my husband said while dumping a bunch of old binders in the trash can. “Who needs all this stuff anyway?”

Who needs all this stuff indeed? Do I need two books with world bread recipes because I aspire to bake bread one day? Does my son need so many markers, pencils and craft supplies if the only artwork he does anymore is at school? Do I need a bike because once a year I join my kids on a bike ride?

No I don’t. I was surprised to hear it from my hubby, but he was right.

We don't need all this stuff. We can live lighter. Leaving things behind is not a loss. It is actually quite liberating. And if we give things away to those who love it or need it more, it is sharing.

Unlike my aunt, we aren’t leaving all our furniture behind, but this time we are close. My aunt's response finally started to resonate with me. As I discovered during this year's spring cleaning, there are many things in our house that I can easily say good bye to. I’ve looked at them, enjoyed them, and used them long enough.

Reflections:

• What objects have you had the longest? Why do you keep them?

• What things do you tend to spend most money on?

• What things are most precious to you?

• How many of the things you own do you really use?

• Do you prefer abundance or minimalism? Why?