The secret to owning less

Well there are a few secrets actually. I’ll fill you in.

1) The obvious. Buy less. Incredibly hard in a world that shoves it down our faces. I’m guilty of it as an entrepreneur although I’m working towards a world that eventually I won’t need to do that.

2) Want less. Don’t go filling your void with crap because you’re sad or whatever emotion. In the same way you shouldn’t eat tubs of ice cream after a break up even if it feels good. Wanting less means you’ll save money for more experiences because experiences are the best, remember?

3) The best secret however, and I discovered this while slowly minimizing my things: remove as much storage space as possible. As in, anything that can fit things on or in, get rid of it. Then you will see what useless crap you have laying in the bottom of drawers that you never even touched.

Well maybe that’s just me. Over the past week I have emptied a 4 level metal shelf and a 2 drawer bedside unit. (Remember it takes time to let go, so it’s a few days of back and forth wondering if I should get rid of said things) It’s funny now that they’ve been empty for a few days I can’t even remember what I even had stored on/in them anymore.

So the best way to own less is to make it virtually impossible for you to put anything anywhere. If you’re like me, guilty of shoving things inside drawers or shelves to “deal with it later,” this is the best solution. Once you start having no place to put it except on your floor, you quickly

a) wonder what the hell you were doing with it in the first place
b) want to throw it away because you can’t stand it being on your floor or
c) consider finding a new place to store it, but then remember you’ll only have to go through it again later
d) contemplate the meaning of Life

I should say that for (b) I have been putting together “Love Boxes” for people on the street or the ones that wait at stop lights. The first one, I jam packed whatever items I had like, candy, (fuck I had so much candy sitting there on my shelves because I don’t even eat candy. I said to myself, one day I may want that. Ahem. Hoarder), socks, gloves, lighters.. things I had 7 of. Things that belonged to exes. My condoms. Although I still have two. To remind myself of sex, obviously.

And to finalize this post. Here are some facts:

1) I recycled my old yearbooks, finally.
2) I have made my own deodorant and have been using it for 2 weeks
3) I have made my own dish soap and have been using it for 1 week
4) My son stays dry at night, so we have officially not used diapers in over a week
5) I wish I had known about the Diva Cup years ago. Wait, when was it invented?
6) I still have so many drawers and boxes to go through. How the hell would someone with a house do this?!
7) I have become comfortable with sharing with people what I’ve been doing. Sometimes I don’t even believe myself. But I believe in myself and that’s what matters.