Clutter May Be the Death of Us

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Freedom of Less Series, Part One

Death by Clutter

Have you ever looked around your house and thought, “Where did all that clutter come from?”

I sure have.  Like most Americans, I have far more “stuff” than I need.  Like, waaaaay more… Except for books.  I definitely don’t have enough books yet.

Some days, it’s just too much.  I come home from work and there are a bunch of items on the counter, the blankets and pillows are all piled on the couch in a tangle, the bed is a mess of laundry, and it seems like every horizontal surface has stuff on it.  Not important stuff.  Just stuff.

It’s a little insane, actually.

I’ll admit I have a really hard time getting rid of things.  I’m frugal by nature and often find myself thinking – “Oh, I shouldn’t toss that, I may need it sometime!”  or, “If I donate that, I’ll have to buy another one when I need it.”

This allows me to justify hanging onto ALL. THE. STUFF.  And then I come home and the house is so messy I can’t just relax and enjoy my evening.  It’s painful.

And it is harmful.

Studies have started to reveal that clutter is bad for us.  All that extra stuff that you don’t know where to put – that stuff is causing stress in your life.  And, if you somehow missed the memo, stress is bad for you!

Children who have too many toys tend to be fussier, have a harder time focusing, and often ignore the majority of their toys in favor of TV or other electronic entertainment.  I read the other day that America houses about 3% of the world’s children and that the 3% of kids who live in America own more than 40% of the toys in the world.  I have no idea what percentage of those toys are rarely if ever touched, but I would venture to guess it’s a lot.

So, what do we do?

Throw it all away!  I’m kidding – sort of.  But, at the same time, I’m totally NOT kidding.  We’ve come to a place where America needs a culture shift.  America (and by definition each one of us) needs to reevaluate what’s important.  Is it really necessary to have more things than you have room for?  Is it really worth having half your possessions in storage, just in case you need them again?

The Freedom of Less

There is something terribly hideous about the loads of “stuff” that clutter up our homes.  I’m coming more and more to realize that this is not the life I want to live.  I want to change my life to be something more beautiful every day.  What does that look like in the long term?  I don’t know!  But I would like to let go of more clutter and embrace the beauty of organization and the freedom of less.

How about you?  What could you have less of?

Join me over the next few weeks as we explore this concept of the “Freedom of Less.”  Let me know what areas of your life are painfully cluttered and where you need to find freedom!

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How’s your week going? It’s been a crazy few weeks here for me…And somehow, I think I’m the only one who didn’t pick a Halloween themed favorite!!  Ooops, I guess it is the middle of October.  How did that happen?

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6 comments

  2. Ipsita Paul says:

    Well written. And you can never get enough books. That’s the one thing that is never enough. Even if I’ve a whole library, I’ll still think ‘no! not enough!’.

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