In current times, possessions have increased in number while our perceived value of them has decreased. In generations past, when stuff used to be less accessible, people had less accumulation and therefore the objects they did have held more value to them. Today, when industrialized countries have access to more and more stuff at continually lower prices (and many times lower quality), we see items as replaceable.
More Stuff Doesn’t Equate to Satisfaction.
Isn’t it amazing how you can buy and buy and never feel satisfied? Actually, it’s kind of the worth. “Retail therapy” was a struggle for me for years as I battled with my mental health, but it never made me feel better. Instead, I ended up with boxes and boxes of stuff that I never even used.
Shopping addictions are pretty common, and difficult to overcome. Unfortunately, no accumulation of stuff will ever fill the hole that we are trying to make it fill. It’s about the value of life, people, and experiences we come into contact with that should fill our days. When it comes down to it, stuff will never love us back or help us when we’re down, something I came to terms with eventually.
No amount of organizing or redesign can hide the fact that one has too much stuff in their home. It’s not something that can be contained by a new product or process. Really dealing with how much we have, and how much we bring into our lives is paramount. It’s not worth having if it’s not useful. It’s not worth the footprint in our space if it doesn’t bring value to life – it’s just stuff.
When I moved into to what I hope will be my forever house, I told myself that this was it. My house was plenty big enough to hold everything I could ever need, so if my closets started to get too full or I stopped feeling like I had a good place for everything I owned, that would mean that I needed to downsize. Not that I needed to figured out nifty storage tricks to be able to fit more and more.
Before making this rule for myself, I would quickly grow into my previous apartments and homes. I felt like if they had empty space, it needed to be filled. And soon, not only would I have filled every inch of my apartment, but I’d start to not have room for other items I’d bring home. This left my homes feeling cluttered and caused me a lot of stress.
Buy With Purpose.
I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that I like a good quality handbag or a nice pair of shoes that will last. For me, quality is more important than brand names – I could care less about what people think of the name on my bag, just that I know it’s good quality and will last for years.
However, unconscious purchasing, which runs rampant these days, is a real dead end. Buying stuff should be something we do with purpose, keeping in mind how it will serve us as a useful possession – NOT how it makes us feel when we buy it or to “collect” possessions to look good for outsiders.
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