Deconstructing Downsizing & Decluttering

With moving back to my home state, renting a slightly smaller home with almost zero storage, and a desire to uncomplicate my home life of clutter in favor of creating space, I am in my fourth attempt at downsizing within 6 months.

And my house is still full of stuff.

In the process of moving, I underestimated the size of the truck I rented, because I hadn't accounted for the lack of over-the-cab storage, which was not a feature, I found out after-the-fact. (This, by the way, would have been the exact amount of space needed for the things I had to leave behind. So, my superpower of visual estimation regarding the ratio of needed space-to-stuff is perfectly safe.)

The items I did not bring to Texas with me were:

• Television

• VCR

• Microwave

• Automatic coffee maker

• Cleaning products

• Vacuum

• Garden hose

• 3 potted plants

• Trellis

• Extension ladder

• About half-a-dozen smaller items

Turns out, most of that was not an issue. I haven't replaced the microwave or the VCR. I had a perculator I used for back-up when my automatic coffee maker went on the blink; it's getting daily use, now. I had too many cleaning products. There is now no need for a vacuum cleaner: it's all hardwood and no rugs up in here. The rest were either niceties or specifically for that house. Really, not much of a loss.

I downsized while I was packing up and again when I unpacked.

I downsized when my grandmother passed away to make room for some heirlooms that I deeply treasure. (Technically, I just replaced my old stuff with new old stuff.)

I downsized about 2 months ago on a whim, when I couldn't find storage space for boxes I wasn't unpacking.

And now, I'm doing it again, because I've decided I still have too much stuff. And I don't like how the aforementioned unpacked boxes are facilitating space in my bedroom.

It's getting more difficult to decide what to get rid of.

Which is sending my Witch-way senses into overdrive: Do my part to help the environment, don't give in to consumerism, use what you have first, don't let your stuff be a burden--BUT use what you have, treasure family history, make a welcoming home environment, one's home is one's temple... and I really do love and use all my old things.

Over the years, I've been fascinated with tiny houses, minimalist living, "simple" spaces, etc. I've read all different kinds of theories about getting rid of things, but at the same time, I'm also fascinated with homesteading, re-using, upcycling and repurposing. And then there's bohemian-influenced decor. Seriously, that's some awesomely creative whimsy, and my home is continually on the stairway to that rhapsodic.

These two theories are, in fact, disparate. I'll hold on to old coffee cans, because they make great storage for nails, screws and other hardware: The amount of hardware I have won't fill up a 1-lb. coffee can. Yet, I have four of them set aside. I keep fabric scraps, because I feel that throwing them out would be simply wasteful: Next thing I know, there are two garbage bags full of scraps sitting in my bedroom floor. They make great quilts or patchwork skirts, creative valances, or dog toys--whenever I actually get to making said products.

These things are useful, but require storage until their specific uses are fulfilled.

In a blog article entitled "The Trouble With the Decluttering Craze," Heidi Raschke points out, regarding the trend of ridding one's home of anything that doesn't "spark joy" along the Kondo theory,

"The boxes stacked in my bedroom do not, in any way, spark joy. That’s not why I keep them. I keep them because I don’t like wasting stuff."

Preach it, sister.

If I'm being completely honest, it's not about not contributing to the growth of landfills (hello, paper plates) or because I can't afford to go purchase a pretty container for the loose nails rattling in my toolbox. (Really, who's going to poke around in my tool storage and say, "What a lovely nail tin!")

The other option is donation, rather than garbage. Here's the thing: I've NEVER seen empty coffee cans for sale at the thrift stores. Donation is fine, well, and good for clothing, dishes and other household items, but not so much with the items most folks just toss in the trash. The only exception I recall is glass pasta sauce or relish jars at 25 cents a piece. Apparently, they have value. (I'm in total agreement with this and generally have a stash of these; however, the recent passing of my grandmother also brought a large number of canning jars into my home, not all of them suitable for canning anymore. They get the relish jar treatment of storing things like makeup brushes to continue their usefulness. And I like the way they look in the bathroom.)

I see the value in the books I've never read. The vast majority of the books I own are for reference, and at least two-thirds of the remaining books are antiques. Do I need them? Nope. Do I want them? Yep. Especially when I'm having a bad day and can get high by sniffing the pages of my first edition of Matheson's I Am Legend. And I don't trust the Internet to always be there to teach me how to frame a wall or retaliate in the war against army worms.

I see the value in the arts-and-crafts supplies scattered throughout the house. These provide a means for creative outlets, resetting my brain to help me deal with mundane tasks, like earning a paycheck or remembering where I last set down my coffee cup. My sewing machine is a means of creating something beautiful and useful, a way of putting my repurposing theories to practice. Domestic magic at work!

These theories really abound in the how-to category. In doing several Google searches for anti-downsizing one's home, I found almost nothing. In fact, in looking for why NOT to do it, the results came back as why one should and the best times to start. The search for anti-decluttering turned up one useful result:

"You don’t become instantly happy and content by just getting rid of your stuff—at least not in the long run. Decluttering doesn’t work like that. If you simply embrace the what without the why, then you’ll get nowhere..." ("Decluttering Doesn't Work").

It argues for decluttering while avoiding regret and against the practice if you are doing it for the wrong or unknown reasons.

The why of getting rid of things is more complicated than Kondo's theory or Raschke's. The first assumes one places value on the usefulness of an item and Rascke's assumes the desire for a lack of creating waste. (I'd adhere to Raschke's concept, were I forced to chose.)

Sometimes we don't get rid of things because of the sentimental value or even the beauty of something. Do I need the mix-matched Depression glass place settings? I do not. In the past year, I used it once. It was my grandmother's. And I like looking at it; it's pretty!

There is a set of six #8 Coca-Cola Star Wars plastic collector cups that were mine and my brother's when we were kids. They're worth about $4 and more each. Do I care? Not a whit. Why do I keep them? Because I'm a closet Star Wars geek (It's all about some Shakti*.), and they remind me of my childhood.

All the boxes around my house that need to be put in storage? Family portraits, Christmas and Halloween decorations, a box of costumes, several boxes of my son's inheritance from his grandmother, one box containing my childhood, a couple of boxes of things I inherited from my mother. Doesn't sound like much, but in a small house, like this, they take up a lot of space.

The problem is not the desire to get rid of things or really even the space. Obviously, I've finagled that part well enough. The problem is the value I believe these things have, on one or more levels. If we were hit by an EMP, I could manage. I won't have to ever replace my cast iron; I'm the third generation to own some of it.

There's magic in these truths I hold for the things I own, necessary or not, because I believe there is. Magic in books, cookware, glass jars, fabric scraps, and family history.

I don't need to downsize: I want to. But I won't sacrifice the household magic for it.

*"Shakti is the divine force, manifesting to destroy demonic forces and restore balance." Source: http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/shakti.htm#.WBJcoiSUJVo

#balance #life #home #domestic