Excuses, Excuses

Mies takes de-cluttering very seriously

Hello.  My name is Jenna and I have too much stuff.  I’m not talking about collections of Precious Moments figurines tucked away in a curio cabinet I don’t use or just a few too many pairs of shoes.  I have stuff everywhere.  So what if I like to have  10 different choices of cereal?  I thrive on variety, I enjoy being swirled in a tornado of my own indecisiveness.  Even if I can’t make up my mind I still need choices.  I think most people are like that. In fact I have a few scenarios on why we buy and keep way too much.  If it sounds like you, it probably is you.

1.  Emotion- You inherited 3 tea service sets.  One from your mother’s cousin, one from your grandmother and one from a neighbor that lived down the street who was practically your other mother.  Those people are all family to you and now that they are gone you don’t want to part with what your family thinks of as an heirloom.

2.Variety, Sweet Variety- Why rent a movie when you can own it? Of course you need flats in an array of colors.  Seven boxes of jello is never too much, what if you want to make a different flavor?

3. Throwing things away is wasteful and what if you need it later?- You still keep tests and papers you wrote in English class from the 7th grade.

4. New stuff is always better- your two year old laptop just doesn’t cut it.  Now you have 3 laptops.

5. Projects- you buy knitting needles to knit dishcloths and find them stuffed away in your random craft box months later.

Sound familiar?  I’m here to help.  As a twenty something with too much stuff and a extreme minimalist modern decorating style, I don’t have near enough closet or cabinet space to keep all my stuff hidden.  It’s a process, but I’m sure we can get through it together.

Mies says: These mantras helped me de-clutter

Do I need this?  Have I worn this in the past year?  When I hold on to  this am I trying to keep this person alive by their things or can I remember them in ways beyond all of this stuff?  Can I give this away to someone who needs it more than me? Will I use this in the future and do I have a credible reason to keep this? What if I saved the money instead of buying this?

Tags: clutter, de-clutter, hoarders