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I wonder how many of us find clutter exhausting. My husband can't even start his day with too much stuff around the house (on the floor, hanging off chairs... t

I wonder how many of us find clutter exhausting. My husband can't even start his day with too much stuff around the house (on the floor, hanging off chairs... that would be my contribution), but I am able to overlook it a bit more. Though since living with him, I have realized that even I would prefer to live without clutter. Though somehow so many people can't seem to be able to hop off the stuff treadmill: buying, collecting, storing (I'm amazed at the self storage business in the U.S.) and trashing. I am not saying I'm always immune either. I think partly it's being aware of stuff collection as a problem (even just for your own sanity).

mcantor 17y ago
I have been pleased to note that, after moving in with my girlfriend, I have "infected" her with my anti-clutter mindset. I try to live by the general rule of, "If I haven't thought about it in 6 months, it shouldn't be here," and it delighted me the first time I saw her with a box full of old odds-and-ends and explained on her way outside, "I haven't thought about or used any of this in years." Your note about not being immune to the "stuff treadmill" (great term, btw) rings true to me, too, though. Because of our cultural upbringing, it's incredibly easy to get caught up by the consumerist undertow. I was inspired by George Carlin's rant on "stuff," which someone transcribed here: http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm It's less endearing without his delivery, but the idea is the same: we get emotionally connected to our stuff, and in many cases, that isn't conducive to removing stress from our lives. I think he also touches on the (somewhat pernicious) assumption that Americans grow up believing, which is the assumption that everyone is "supposed" to want and have a big giant house filled with all kinds of tchotchkes. I may some day own a house, like I said in my OP, but I never want to have so much stuff that I couldn't fit as much at least half of everything that isn't furniture into the back of my station wagon. No specific reason for that particular measure of proportion... it just feels right. Other than the "6-month rule," I just try to be brutal about every individual object I come in contact with. I try to occasionally remind myself to ask, "How does this thing improve my life and make me happier?" The answer could be as simple as, "Looking at it makes me smile," but if it really doesn't do anything for me, I put it in a box, and--as with before--if I don't think about it for 6 months, it fails the test and I get rid of it.
- kirstendirksen 17y ago
  I would make a similar comment to you as I made above to MrFoof. Maybe because it fits with what feels right for me, but I like your 6-month-rule and your question for every object. In many ways I think when we get too much stuff the same thing happens that happens to kids when they have too many toys. They seem to lose interest in all of them. So we put most of them away in drawers and pull them out a few at a time. It's as if without all the clutter of lots of toys around our daughter enjoys herself, and the few toys, much more. I would also repeat my comment to MrFoof that if you're interested in contributing to my documentary, I'd love to see some visuals of your de-cluttered lifestyle.
MrFoof 17y ago
“Do not have anything in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” -- William Morris As of a few years ago those became the words I lived by. I threw out anything that had no sentimental or significant monetary value, and things I thought were ugly or junk. I had very few things left -- all of my furniture was gone except for a chair, a desk and a lamp. Most everything else fit in a trunk. I had exactly a week's worth of clothes. Some cookware, dinnerware and basic kitchen tools. My girlfriend was livid, though honestly I found it a good excuse to break it off with her too. Now when I look at something, I always ask myself - depending on what it is - how it will be 5 (for non-durables like clothes), 15 or 25 years from now. Would I still want it after that time? If not, there's no way I'd ever buy it. So when you're an apartment with absolutely nothing, you learn what you can live without, and you develop a deeper appreciation for simple things like chairs. You don't just go buy a new sofa, you lay on every sofa in the city until you find one that looks great, that you'd want to reupholster after 30 years and that you can fall asleep on near instantly. You really examine how your clothes hold up over time because... honestly, you don't any spare shirts or pants around. Simple things like plates... if they're ugly, you'll notice all the more. If you don't have enough, you're not so bombarded by other things you're more aware that you seem to be cleaning them an awful lot. Your place stays clean too. A shirt on the floor in a sea of nothing is very much out of place. You also don't... buy all that much anymore. I have a bed and nighstands and lamps again. And a dining table, chairs, sofa, coffee table and another lamp or two and my lounge chair... but that's been it aside from 5 or 6 articles of clothing and a pair of shoes in 3 years. Now I'm sort of at a point - still in my 20s - where there really isn't anything I want to buy anymore. Having been brought up by "gotta-have-this"-trend parents, it's a very peculiar feeling. Almost as if you feel lost.
- kirstendirksen 17y ago
  This response feels poetic to me. Well, that and it made me laugh the way you describe using it as an excuse to break off with your girlfriend. But there's something that feels so right about living according to a principle seeking things of usefulness or beauty. And I'm very impressed that it truly seems you live this way. I'd agree I used to shop more to have spare shirts, but now my spare shirts sit unworn and I simply wear the same few shirts over and over so I don't see the point in having the spares.

mcantor 17y ago

I have been pleased to note that, after moving in with my girlfriend, I have "infected" her with my anti-clutter mindset. I try to live by the general rule of, "If I haven't thought about it in 6 months, it shouldn't be here," and it delighted me the first time I saw her with a box full of old odds-and-ends and explained on her way outside, "I haven't thought about or used any of this in years." Your note about not being immune to the "stuff treadmill" (great term, btw) rings true to me, too, though. Because of our cultural upbringing, it's incredibly easy to get caught up by the consumerist undertow. I was inspired by George Carlin's rant on "stuff," which someone transcribed here: http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm It's less endearing without his delivery, but the idea is the same: we get emotionally connected to our stuff, and in many cases, that isn't conducive to removing stress from our lives. I think he also touches on the (somewhat pernicious) assumption that Americans grow up believing, which is the assumption that everyone is "supposed" to want and have a big giant house filled with all kinds of tchotchkes. I may some day own a house, like I said in my OP, but I never want to have so much stuff that I couldn't fit as much at least half of everything that isn't furniture into the back of my station wagon. No specific reason for that particular measure of proportion... it just feels right. Other than the "6-month rule," I just try to be brutal about every individual object I come in contact with. I try to occasionally remind myself to ask, "How does this thing improve my life and make me happier?" The answer could be as simple as, "Looking at it makes me smile," but if it really doesn't do anything for me, I put it in a box, and--as with before--if I don't think about it for 6 months, it fails the test and I get rid of it.

kirstendirksen 17y ago
I would make a similar comment to you as I made above to MrFoof. Maybe because it fits with what feels right for me, but I like your 6-month-rule and your question for every object. In many ways I think when we get too much stuff the same thing happens that happens to kids when they have too many toys. They seem to lose interest in all of them. So we put most of them away in drawers and pull them out a few at a time. It's as if without all the clutter of lots of toys around our daughter enjoys herself, and the few toys, much more. I would also repeat my comment to MrFoof that if you're interested in contributing to my documentary, I'd love to see some visuals of your de-cluttered lifestyle.

MrFoof 17y ago

“Do not have anything in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” -- William Morris As of a few years ago those became the words I lived by. I threw out anything that had no sentimental or significant monetary value, and things I thought were ugly or junk. I had very few things left -- all of my furniture was gone except for a chair, a desk and a lamp. Most everything else fit in a trunk. I had exactly a week's worth of clothes. Some cookware, dinnerware and basic kitchen tools. My girlfriend was livid, though honestly I found it a good excuse to break it off with her too. Now when I look at something, I always ask myself - depending on what it is - how it will be 5 (for non-durables like clothes), 15 or 25 years from now. Would I still want it after that time? If not, there's no way I'd ever buy it. So when you're an apartment with absolutely nothing, you learn what you can live without, and you develop a deeper appreciation for simple things like chairs. You don't just go buy a new sofa, you lay on every sofa in the city until you find one that looks great, that you'd want to reupholster after 30 years and that you can fall asleep on near instantly. You really examine how your clothes hold up over time because... honestly, you don't any spare shirts or pants around. Simple things like plates... if they're ugly, you'll notice all the more. If you don't have enough, you're not so bombarded by other things you're more aware that you seem to be cleaning them an awful lot. Your place stays clean too. A shirt on the floor in a sea of nothing is very much out of place. You also don't... buy all that much anymore. I have a bed and nighstands and lamps again. And a dining table, chairs, sofa, coffee table and another lamp or two and my lounge chair... but that's been it aside from 5 or 6 articles of clothing and a pair of shoes in 3 years. Now I'm sort of at a point - still in my 20s - where there really isn't anything I want to buy anymore. Having been brought up by "gotta-have-this"-trend parents, it's a very peculiar feeling. Almost as if you feel lost.

kirstendirksen 17y ago
This response feels poetic to me. Well, that and it made me laugh the way you describe using it as an excuse to break off with your girlfriend. But there's something that feels so right about living according to a principle seeking things of usefulness or beauty. And I'm very impressed that it truly seems you live this way. I'd agree I used to shop more to have spare shirts, but now my spare shirts sit unworn and I simply wear the same few shirts over and over so I don't see the point in having the spares.