Downsizing

In an effort to live more simply the inevitable must occur. We have to downsize.

One thing I've noticed in all the homes we've lived in is that no matter the size of the home, it will be full to bursting. We just don't stop accumulating stuff. We have lived in homes that including the basement exceed 4000 SF down to one bedroom apartments of 760 SF. The biggest thing about a house is that we can stockpile our possessions without giving them much thought. We don't have to think critically about every item and say to ourselves: "Do I need this? Is it beautiful? Is it useful?" Instead we can say: "I might need this someday, I'd better hang on to this. I could totally do a project with this...someday." Or my personal favorite: "This hasn't worked in the last 3 houses but it might work for the next one, better keep it."

The trouble is, someday isn't on the calendar. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Nope, no Someday. So I end up with a stockpile of stuff (some organized, some not) to do future crafts but due to the other obligations I have in my life, I never get to it. So all that stuff just ends up leaving me stressed out, feeling unfulfilled and collecting dust.

I am positively giddy about downsizing. I am a packrat. Not a hoarder. I like to keep sentimental items that serve no purpose at all except to make me wax nostalgic. I'm really good at getting rid of other people's stuff. Really Good! But enter into emotional attachment and I freeze, I waver, I fill really big "maybe" boxes. I am looking forward to the time when everything I own serves a purpose, even if that purpose is to make me smile.

In preparation for our road home I've been going through closets rooms and labeling big items with cards that say RV or KEEP or SELL. We plan on getting a POD to store the things we can't part with, putting the things that we need in the RV and selling the rest to start a nest egg for the trip.

Even with as many moves as we've made, we still accumulate stuff. It is so freeing to fill those SELL piles. Simple feels wonderful!