Stuff
One of the people whom I met last weekend was a classic downshifter; a man who had run a small company of his own, but who chucked it to become a one-man business and move into a house that is barely more than a cabin, but that has a location and grounds to die for. His two-room house sits about fifty meters from the wooded banks of the Moselle, with a southern aspect and space for a lawn, vegetable patch, plunge pool and open-air dining table.
To move there, he had to get rid of all the junk, all the redundant and superfluous stuff that he had accumulated over the course of his life and relationships. His single living, working and dining room is sparsely decorated to the point of austerity except for the kitchen area which is equipped for real use. He was one of the cooks whose skill and cooking I so admired.
And, it's made me think. Moonface & I have been in this house for twenty-five years and more, accumulating goods faster than we dispose of them. So it's steadily silting up. The attic is nearly full, after it was emptied when the old lady moved out. Some of the stuff is building materials for the work that we never got around to doing, some is a collection of cardboard boxes for electronic equipment that we will move one day.......and other stuff is just, well, stuff.
Elsewhere in the house, I don't throw out clothes unless they're worn out (although Moonface does) and we buy books faster than we can dispose of them. We've had equipment for hobbies that we no longer pursue, but "might" come back to one day, vinyl records from the 70's and '80's, and a cupboard full, very full, of tools that only rarely come in useful. How many bicycles? I'm almost a collector. There are pictures on my office pin-board that are ten years old. I'm sure it must be bad Feng Shui. Or something.
Our son, bless him, is even worse and is pathologically resistant to throwing anything at all out, so in spite of having a huge room, all the available space is occupied to the point of worry. Our worry, that is. He likes it.
So, inspired by what others can do and thinking that my life is too cluttered, I am resolved to throw more out. Anything will be a start.
:o)
To move there, he had to get rid of all the junk, all the redundant and superfluous stuff that he had accumulated over the course of his life and relationships. His single living, working and dining room is sparsely decorated to the point of austerity except for the kitchen area which is equipped for real use. He was one of the cooks whose skill and cooking I so admired.
And, it's made me think. Moonface & I have been in this house for twenty-five years and more, accumulating goods faster than we dispose of them. So it's steadily silting up. The attic is nearly full, after it was emptied when the old lady moved out. Some of the stuff is building materials for the work that we never got around to doing, some is a collection of cardboard boxes for electronic equipment that we will move one day.......and other stuff is just, well, stuff.
Elsewhere in the house, I don't throw out clothes unless they're worn out (although Moonface does) and we buy books faster than we can dispose of them. We've had equipment for hobbies that we no longer pursue, but "might" come back to one day, vinyl records from the 70's and '80's, and a cupboard full, very full, of tools that only rarely come in useful. How many bicycles? I'm almost a collector. There are pictures on my office pin-board that are ten years old. I'm sure it must be bad Feng Shui. Or something.
Our son, bless him, is even worse and is pathologically resistant to throwing anything at all out, so in spite of having a huge room, all the available space is occupied to the point of worry. Our worry, that is. He likes it.
So, inspired by what others can do and thinking that my life is too cluttered, I am resolved to throw more out. Anything will be a start.
:o)
posted by Moses at
2:53 pm
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