Pare Down for a Bigger Life
I came across a book recently that sparked my interest. The whole notion of it was that becoming less concerned with material things can be a beneficial way to discover what the important things in your life really are. No matter how important we think they are, things are just things, and will never be as important as the people around us.
The Not So Big Life is a book and site by Sarah Susanka, who has some wonderful exercises and ideas to help you pare down your life and discover what is really valuable. Taking her cue, here are a few things I think would be helpful to start doing in order to get through some of the clutter.
Digitize – Do you have tons of documents, packed in file cabinets and folders all over the room? Maybe its time to take those documents to a scanner and get them backed up on a computer. Computer hard drives lately have so much storage that you could scan every document, photo and video from your whole life and still have room for a few old episodes of ALF.
Donate – I’m willing to bet that you have some things you don’t wear, read, or watch anymore, and they’re not doing anyone any good sitting in the attic. Take clothes you don’t wear and items you don’t use to a donation center. If something still has life in it, someone else will surely appreciate the things you no longer need.
Inventory – If you take the time to actually list all the things you own, it can be quite intimidating. Nonetheless, this exercise can really let you see how cumbersome material possessions can be. Inventory your things, and then start at the top of the list and ask for every entry: do I REALLY need this?
Plan – If you consider the amount you spend on nonessential material things each month, think about how those savings could be reallocated. Are you not taking the vacation you’ve been wanting because you don’t have the time and money, or because you are spending too much on things?
Even if you don’t decide to get rid of the things you’ve spent time and money on acquiring, it is still important to organize the things you own so they don’t end up owning you.
-Lisa
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