The real purpose of paring down these things is precisely to expose those vulnerabilities and anxieties you might not otherwise have found. If you have not alre

The real purpose of paring down these things is precisely to expose those vulnerabilities and anxieties you might not otherwise have found. If you have not already, I highly recommend you take some meditation practice. This is really about getting to the real you, which may have been obscured by the extra clutter. On your way there, you will see parts of yourself that you don't particularly like. It is no different than moving the couch and finding forgotten dust bunnies of your mind. It is the same when decluttering. I don't know about what other blog posts have written about it. I decluttered in the same way I meditate: the feelings that arises when you contemplate throwing something away are the various stories, narratives, and attachments you have about that particular object. They are coming to the surface as a chance for you to really examine whether it is necessary or not. For example, someone might buy an object to fill up a room, but they are not even aware of the deeper motivation of staving off loneliness. That loneliness does not surface up until something such as decluttering comes up. The internal attachment you have to an external object creates a kind of feedback loop to keep that object in that place, and anchors your memories. Stir up your possessions, and you also stir up your psyche. The koan "do you own these things or do these things own you" still apply. If you are obsessing abut what you buy in the space, then these objects -- or rather, what the lack of objects says about you and what social signals they give to other people owns you. That is confining to your spirit. It's not real freedom.