Why Are Our Lives Filled With So Much Stuff?
Filed under: Buying Habits, Clear the clutter, Frugal/Simplified Living, Healthy Habits, Simplified/Frugal Living
Why are so many of our lives overstuffed with stuff? Buying stuff. Selling 
stuff. Eating stuff. Not eating stuff. We buy stuff to store our stuff. When our homes are full of stuff, we rent more places to store our stuff, so well, we can get more stuff. How can any of this be good for us?
We are told by pundits and government officials that the recession is causing us to buy too little new stuff – which is hurting the folks who make the stuff. And yet somehow, we are also told by the same pundits and government officials that we bought too much stuff to begin with, ultimately causing the onset of the recession.
We are told by environmentalists that we need to keep our stuff longer (or perhaps get rid of our stuff and get new better stuff) to be more friendly to Mother Earth.
It is all beginning to make me feel suffocated. We live in a country of great abundance – perhaps the abundance of all the stuff is a symptom of our success. Yet a recent wave of documentary/realty television is dedicated to the addiction of stuff. Shows like Hoarders regale viewers with stories of the millions of Americans drowning both financially and emotionally under the weight of years of accumulated and calcified stuff. Lives are destroyed. Homes are destroyed. And families fail. Not because of hunger or want, but because of excess. As a people, we seem unable to outrun the tsunami of stuff that follows our every move.
As a Professional Organizer, I see it every day. The past 5 years that I have been invited into people’s homes and offices to help them deal with their cluttered lives, has changed my life.
Every once in a while, isn’t there great joy in the reduction of stuff? Isn’t a trip to Goodwill (or even to the dumpster) kind of refreshing? I feel great – I much prefer the feeling of living lighter than of being tied down by stuff.
Consider this quote … the most important things are not things.
And yet, we still hang on to our stuff for a rainy day. Why? I challenge you this week to analyze your motives, emotions, reasons and excuses that you give yourself to convince you to hold onto stuff that doesn’t enhance your life.
Originally posted 2010-07-05 20:28:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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