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The Purge, Update

Simple living is the key to a successful life.

The more things we own, the more cluttered our lives become. Holding onto items, relationships, and baggage that no longer serve a functional purpose is a sign of poor constitution. Life is best experienced with an eye to building a positive future.

The purging process I have committed to is intended to continue on an ongoing basis. Minimalism is a lifestyle rather than a yo-yo diet approach to housecleaning. It all begins with the question: Does this thing add value to my life? If Yes, it may remain. If No, remove.

As part of my minimalist pledge earlier this month, I elected to declutter my life by eliminating 50 items which were taking up physical and mental space in my life without providing any value.

My tally for February is as follows:

  • Books: 24
  • DVDs: 16
  • Shirts: 14

The final tally for the month comes up to a grand total of 54 items. While I was hoping to get rid of more, I will consider this a good start to the process. As it turns out, I’ve never really been one to keep an overly excessive amount of items anyhow.

For March I am planning to consolidate all of my loose Post-Its that accumulate ad infinitum since I am always scribbling down notes and thoughts as they occur to me with the result being a heap of unactioned ideas. Some of the Post-Its are reminders to write a blog post about a certain topic, some detail a new concept for me to research for my own personal intellectual growth, while still others might be a quote I heard that I wanted to save and add to my “Quotes” file on my computer.

Thank you for reading.

Ryan

Is 54 items a true Purge? What should my next step be on the road to simplifying my life?

Pictures courtesy of pixabay.com

6 thoughts on “The Purge, Update

  1. Karen says:

    I love getting rid of stuff! It’s so cathartic. I think the bigger a house you have, the more compelled you would feel to fill it with more stuff. And then people complain that they have so much stuff. Ummmm…stop buying stuff all the time. Lol.

    I haven’t been following you on your purge, but have you organized your computer-putting things in their proper folders, creating folders for documents/pictures that don’t have folders, getting rid of duplicate pictures, deleting everything in the downloads folder? My tech savvy fiance made me do this because my hard drive was running out of space FAST.
    Karen recently posted…The Survey Results Are In!My Profile

    1. Karen,

      I definitely agree… most of the people you hear lamenting their money issues are in the next sentence talking about the vacation they’re going on, six months after having come back from one already. They tend to also have big screen televisions in every room in the house with an expensive cable package. They and their children all have smartphones with expensive data plans and unlimited everything. They then complain that they have no time for anything… and it’s probably because they’re always climbing over their mountain of stuff! People tend to be their own worst enemies.

      Organizing my computer is a GREAT idea. I have so much clutter on here it’s ridiculous. No one other than me would be able to find even a tenth of what is stored because it’s all over the place and I just go by memory for it. Amazing.

      Thanks for stopping in,
      – Ryan

  2. Allan says:

    Haha it’s so funny. Last year I have started a “get rid of 50% of your stuff” challenge. And about every 3 months since then, I “clean” a room, a wardrobe, a shed or boxes of stuff and get rid of at least 50% of what’s in it. I sold many things but also gave many things to charities… and unfortunately I also had to throw everything that couldn’t be recycled. Honestly I felt bad when I realized how much crap I owned… A lot of money wasted for nothing and now it will polute the planet a little mord.

    Since then, before buying something, I apply the 48h rule… think about it for 48h before buying and if you still want it, you may need it. 99% of the time I don’t go back to the store to buy it.

    I now have so much free room in my house that I wonder why I own such a big place… Maybe eventually I’ll get rid of it too… who knows?! And live in a smaller place.

    Humanity has complexified life so much… We don’t need all that crap. Hell… I don’t need all that crap. What I need is time. Time to enjoy the company of my wife, friends and family, time to do what I love to do most of the time.

    You’re right. Keeping clutters and even worse, buying more stuff to clutter our houses and lives doesn’t bring any extra value to our lives.
    Allan recently posted…February 2015 updateMy Profile

    1. Allan,

      Thanks for sharing your story. I have yet to hear from someone who took on this sort of endeavour and didn’t find it useful. We’re suckered right from birth into believing that “more stuff” is better. It often takes years to shed that belief system and start living intentionally.

      Take care!
      – Ryan

  3. Anne says:

    Very interesting idea. I challenge your brother to the same task – can he beat your grand total? What would he purge? I think it would be a fascinating follow up article.

    1. Thanks for the comment Anne,
      That’s not a bad idea. Perhaps I will attempt a similar minimalist challenge. If I do I will be sure to let you know how it went.
      Thanks for stopping in.
      -Rick

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