Decluttering
I am done with having a lot of stuff.
Up until now, I thought having more stuff in my life meant that I would be more liked and accepted. I wished for a giant library of books, stacks of journals for future generations to thumb through, enough art to make art galleries look small; I thought all of this stuff would make me happier and make me look more educated and refined. For the last eight years, I had been accumulating stuff and designing my room to showcase as much of it as I can. Studying English at university only made me feel like the library I would eventually have needed to showcase the life I have accumulated and want to present to those who walked into its aura.
Then I came to a thought that changed my thinking: Am I accumulating stuff for status, or because it reflects who I am?
Within a year, I went from wanting to gather as much as I can to wanting to get rid of it all. The status I wanted no longer applied. I didn't care anymore about what people thought of my status or my passions. In fact, there was a very likely chance no one would ever see it. That thought is what brought me to a search of what could help me understand how I was feeling. That search brought me to minimalism. Minimalism brought me all of the tools I needed to clear out all of the noise I had brought into my room and into my life. I let go of whatever seemed to be in my way -clothes, old papers, trinkets from vacations gone by, and (most importantly) journals that I didn't even bother to read anymore. (You can read about the journal experience in my previous post The Final Act of 2018)
Now here I stand in 2019 with a full knowledge that my journey is far from over. Many things still hide in the closets and containers of my life -books, jewelry, to name a couple- in need of decluttering. Hopefully, over the course of the next year, I can take the time to reflect and declutter what I have left. I have not really come across a solid answer to the question I thought at the beginning of 2018. Maybe, this year, I will have a more reflective answer and will gain some form of enlightenment on the future I wish to continue toward.
Up until now, I thought having more stuff in my life meant that I would be more liked and accepted. I wished for a giant library of books, stacks of journals for future generations to thumb through, enough art to make art galleries look small; I thought all of this stuff would make me happier and make me look more educated and refined. For the last eight years, I had been accumulating stuff and designing my room to showcase as much of it as I can. Studying English at university only made me feel like the library I would eventually have needed to showcase the life I have accumulated and want to present to those who walked into its aura.
Then I came to a thought that changed my thinking: Am I accumulating stuff for status, or because it reflects who I am?
Within a year, I went from wanting to gather as much as I can to wanting to get rid of it all. The status I wanted no longer applied. I didn't care anymore about what people thought of my status or my passions. In fact, there was a very likely chance no one would ever see it. That thought is what brought me to a search of what could help me understand how I was feeling. That search brought me to minimalism. Minimalism brought me all of the tools I needed to clear out all of the noise I had brought into my room and into my life. I let go of whatever seemed to be in my way -clothes, old papers, trinkets from vacations gone by, and (most importantly) journals that I didn't even bother to read anymore. (You can read about the journal experience in my previous post The Final Act of 2018)
Now here I stand in 2019 with a full knowledge that my journey is far from over. Many things still hide in the closets and containers of my life -books, jewelry, to name a couple- in need of decluttering. Hopefully, over the course of the next year, I can take the time to reflect and declutter what I have left. I have not really come across a solid answer to the question I thought at the beginning of 2018. Maybe, this year, I will have a more reflective answer and will gain some form of enlightenment on the future I wish to continue toward.
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