More space for less stuff

The shelf guys were back this week to give us more space.  They put in shelves in places we had hardly thought of — great horizontal spaces for us to put our stuff.  And just moving boxes out of their way to install the shelves showed us once again — we have too much crap.  Er, things.

F’instance they installed a shelf under the kitchen sink so we can finally put our composting, recycling and garbage out of the way….and discovered we had stored bottles of carpet cleaner under the sink for the past 6 weeks.  We don’t have any carpets.  Ergo, we don’t need carpet cleaner.  Into the recycling they went.

Removing what we don’t need is part of our de-cluttering quest for this year.  And it’s a long, hard, constant job. Or, as LifeEdited puts it,

editing, i.e. getting to that essential, irreducible quality…is something that takes time and great effort.

They have a point, this life style demands a shift in thinking, a paradigm shift if you will.  One of the most important questions we have to ask ourselves is

What would my life look like in its most essential form?

So we’re changing our way of thinking in five essential ways, as suggested in this article:

1. Attention. Practice doing one thing at a time–whether it’s work, driving, reading or talking with a friend.

No more watching TV while writing, reading, doing the crossword.  Let’s concentrate on what we are doing.

2. Space. ask ourselves how we can make the most of the existing space and how we can remove any elements that don’t support how we live.

Like carpet cleaner.

3. Clothing.Create a wardrobe where every item is our favorite.

And that means no more shopping for shopping’s sake — even during the sales.

4. Food. eat less, but better–healthy, fresh food that supports longterm health, not immediate gratification.

Now the holidays are over and all the candy/snacks/desserts are gone, let’s keep it that way until next December.  The only food to grab and eat will be fruit.

5. Stuff. we might continually ask whether we need the stuff we have. Do we use it? Does our frequency and quality of use justify its residency in our lives?

As we move things from our rental storage space to our laneway home we have to keep getting rid of things we don’t use and don’t need.  Yes!  Everything we get rid of makes our lives simpler, more elegant, easier.  And cleaner.

Living a conscious, serene life.  Isn’t that what we all want?