Cleaning out, not up

If your house was on fire and you had less than 5 minutes, what would you take? Would you be able to deal with losing everything else?


“The things you used to own, now they own you.”

― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

This is a great quote. Over the last month Linds and I have been cleaning out. We are on the verge of the biggest yard sale in history. What happens after the sale? Everything that is left goes to Goodwill. Nothing goes back into the house.

I started asking the question of; “why do we hold on to stuff?” For example, how many cups do you have in your kitchen cabinets? Now ask yourself, have you ever had that many people at your house at one time when you did not use disposable cups? If your answer is no, then why are you keeping them? It is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed with always having to clean the house. But, in reality we are mostly “organizing” not scrubbing. I read on a blog that “organizing is nothing more than managed hoarding”. Since we cleaned out, it takes far less time to really clean, which means less time and stress.

Too often we hold on to things as a way to have a tangible memory. I have a lot of great memories. I remember helping my grandpa build a tree house in our back yard. I remember learning to ride a bike and getting my drivers license. I remember boarding up a house on Sunset Beach during a hurricane and sitting with Linds after surgery watching 90210. When the memories fade as I know they will, I will still know I had a great life. I don’t need a program from my Eagle ceremony to remind me of my scouting days. I have the memory of Dad and I taking turns pumping up an air mattress for what seemed like forever.
Now, I am not saying that you should sell everything you own and go live in the woods (although the thought has crossed my mind). I am simply saying that letting go of stuff does not mean that you are letting go of the memories too. Let your possessions add value to your life, not define and control you.