DEFCON 8: What about all my Stuff?
01-02-09
Irenka sorting out stuff to ebay
“The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage”
Constipation
Our entire culture is predicated on a belief that more is better. However, it should come as no surprise that any endeavour involving freedom, travel, and adventure is about learning to live with less. So, how do you change your mindset?
As unfashionable as it is these days, I’m grateful to be born into a capitalist democracy and agree wholeheartedly with the economist and social theorist Joseph Schumpeter when he said, "Capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all the others."
However, I also believe that there’s nothing like scarcity to sharpen your appreciation for the simple things in life and if you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know I hold gratitude as one of the cornerstones of any value system.
Upon reaching New Zealand after months of cruising Central America and the South Pacific, I felt an overwhelming sense of exuberance as I wandered around the shops and indulged in so many meat pies, dairy products, chocolate muffins and fish 'n' chips that I gave myself constipation within the first week of arriving! So, I’m as guilty as anyone for the occasional blowout!
But a system predicated on continually demanding more and more can only lead down a road of despondency and burden. Yes, we need a certain amount of stuff to function in the modern world, but do we need so damn much of it to be happy?
We have so much f** stuff.
“The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**" by Mark Manson
As Mark Manson pointed out in his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**, “Our crisis is no longer material; it’s existential, it’s spiritual. We have so much f** stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t know what to give a f** about anymore.” He may be crude, but he makes an important point.
This theory was first popularised by psychologist Barry Schwartz in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, which suggests that having too many choices can lead to negative outcomes such as decision paralysis, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.
Amazingly, Schwartz’s book was published in 2004, a year before Amazon Prime was launched and three years before the start of the smartphone era. Since then, depression and anxiety in highly developed economies have skyrocketed exponentially.
Simply put, if you want a happy life of freedom, travel, and adventure you need to remove that pile of stuff in your way, and more importantly, you need to stop adding to it.
"The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less" by Barry Schwartz
A China Dog, a Pair of Ice Skates and a Deathbed Cassette Recorder
Our big clear-out began in 2016 and brought up many issues and created quite a few challenges.
I had a large china dog that was given to me at the age of four by an elderly neighbour. He struggled to cope after his wife died, so my Mam cooked him a hot dinner every week, and my Dad and I would take it to his house on Sunday and check up on him. I didn’t have a pet at the time, so I’d play with that china dog for hours, pretending it was my own faithful companion.
Seeing my attachment, and despite the strong connection to his late wife, the kindly old neighbour gifted it to me just before he died.
It was a genuine antique but was so chipped and damned ugly that it was virtually worthless, so we kept it in permanent storage. Despite its sentimental value, after a prolonged and painful process, Irenka persuaded me to part with it, and she sold it on eBay for £25 ($30).
The decluttering war of attrition
Then, I discovered she’d hidden her old ice skates in a secret box.
You can imagine the ‘discussion’ that followed. Hostilities weren’t helped by the fact that I threw out a broken old cassette recorder I found in the garage, only to discover later that Irenka’s dad had played his favourite songs on it on his deathbed. My treasured collection of rare Beatles albums then followed the fate of my china dog on eBay and some were unceremoniously dumped at the doors of charity shops.
What ensued was an escalating decluttering war of attrition between the two of us, the emotional fallout of which still exists to this day. Seriously, don’t ever mention china dogs, play the Beatles or suggest a day at the ice rink when we’re in the same room together!
Increasing the rental value of your home
However, when the dust settled, we’d cleared out an unbelievable amount of stuff and made a surprising amount of money on eBay from what was essentially junk. It also felt strangely and deeply liberating.
Attics, basements, cupboards, drawers, and storerooms are crammed full stuff we no longer need.
Recycling, repurposing, reusing or donating stuff to charity is also far better for the environment as it prolongs the day before it ends up in landfill. We’d given those items a second lease on life and provided some lucky souls the opportunity to own something they clearly wanted.
The house ended up decluttered and clean, which also helped with its rental valuation. After all, who wants to rent a house full of personal clutter?
Who wants to rent a house full of personal clutter? - Percy Island Yacht club, Australia
Digital Sentimentality
The biggest excuse people have for holding on to stuff is ‘sentimental value.’ It’s difficult to become sentimental over value, but you can get hooked on sentimentality itself. You have to bear in mind that memories are merely triggered neurones. Photographs, smells, and songs are equally as evocative as physical items but take up much less storage space.
Attics, basements, cupboards, drawers, and storerooms are crammed full of sentimental stuff that could easily be reimagined digitally. It’s the stories these objects hold that are important, not necessarily the objects themselves. So, why not make photos and videos of the items and write a diary, article, or blog post about them to share with the world? A fascinating story might sell to a magazine, create great content for your website or social media and ultimately increase the value of that item when you finally list it on eBay!
Take the bare minimum of toys, because introducing a child's imagination to diverse cultures, sights and adventures unlocks the world's greatest playground and toy box!
Creating Clarity for the Future
You are planning a more exciting future for yourself and your family with new cultures, sights, and adventures ahead of you. So, decluttering before heading off is more than just tidying up; it's about creating a smooth departure, fostering a sense of clarity, and ensuring that when you return (if indeed you do), it will be to a clean, uncluttered and welcoming space to rest your travel weary head.
To quote Admiral William H. McRaven and his famous speech about "Making your bed”.
“And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. So, if you want to change the world, start by making your bed.”
That's it for another week. Next week in DeFCoN 9 - Health Care and Insurance, I’ll be looking at that subject that seems to play on everyone's mind.. and why it shouldn't.
“The secret to happiness..”
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