Me Thinks

I read an interesting article the other day.  Here are some parts of it:

It keeps coming into homes with the full backing of traditions, holidays, celebrations, rituals, and even the search for happiness.  Millions of marketing dollars encourage it.  The economy depends on it.  Kids demand it.  It fills rooms, closets, garages and storage units.  It is stuff--the possessions that increase with every birthday, holiday and retail therapy jaunt.

We are at this unique point in western civilization. The individual household, the individual family, has never owned more stuff than they do now.  We've never been here before as humans in general.  It's fascinating.  It is going to have some pretty dire consequences, but there is no touchstone of tradition by which we can look back for practices. There is no model for dealing with the mess we've gotten ourselves into now. 

One of the culprits preventing cleanup is just modern life.  When parents and children do spend time together, it's limited. Americans compensate for that limited time by buying things for each other.  When it comes time that you get a little leisure time on the weekend, you would rather hang out with your kids and have fun.  And so the stuff keeps flowing into homes.

Suggestions listed in the article for dealing with all of the stuff we have:
1.  Recognize the problem of having a constant inflow of things and how it affects well-being.  Look at its economic, ecological and psychological costs.
2.  Modify consumption habits.
3.  Individual households should come up with their own traditions on how to eliminate excess possessions.
4.  Give away one thing a day for a month.
5.  When you buy an new article of clothing, or a new toy, you must take one thing out of your closet to give away.
6.  Set up a schedule so that every drawer and closet is cleaned out at least once a year.
(Taken from a Deseret News Article titled, "Let It Go" by Michael De Groote, 4-29-14)

Our houses are big, our garages are big, our storage rooms are big, and we have more stuff than we have ever had before.  Do we need all of this stuff?  We have been told that we do.  Does the stuff add to our happiness or simply add to our list of things to take care of and maintain?  Could we get by with less stuff than we now have?  I think absolutely yes.  I was going to say that #6 (above) is the most important step for me, because by cleaning every drawer and closet out annually, I can look at every item that I own and decide whether or not it is used and whether or not I should keep it or give it away, but this step does not take into account a system of control for new purchases.  I guess both things are needed--modifying my spending and regularly looking over my possessions and sorting/giving away.  Much of the world lives with a fraction of the items that I live with, and yet they carry on, raise families, and survive.  I can improve in this area.