The Sluggish Household
My house was sluggish. It was tidy, but dragging. I had felt it slowing down, losing power, burdened, inefficient. An efficient house feels different – lighter somehow. You can find things when you need them, and there isn’t the last-minute race to hide piles before guests arrive. At the end of the day, everything goes away easily, and peace reigns once more.
When I think about a green life, being rid of excess stuff is part of it. Green living is freer living. Simpler living. Being able to choose my next adventure because I’m not weighed down – not by toxins, not by guilt, not by bad food or bad influences. Not by hurry, nor debt, nor stuff.
In the past week, I had extracted 12 full boxes of stuff from just 3 1/2 seemingly orderly rooms. What got me started was a sudden moment of clarity. I opened familiar drawers, and instead of seeing familiar stuff, the stuff had coalesced into various identities.
The Weight of Identities
Among them, I found identities I had had in the past. Identities I thought I wanted to have in the future. Identities I feel I ought to have now, but don’t. Hiding among all those were the relatively small number of identities I actually have right now.
Over time, I had collected a lot of supplies for these mostly-idle identities. This paraphernalia cost me time whenever I looked for something I needed right now. Time is a very precious currency. When I have to dig through past and possible future identities to find what I need for my current ones, I waste time.
There’s nothing wrong with dreams and plans and ambitions. But when what might be and what was blocks me from accessing what is right now, I miss out on fully living today. This took a bit of navel-gazing to figure out exactly who I am right now, and certainly this will be ongoing as I grow and evolve. Who I am changes, which is part of the fun of this adventure called life.
Identifying Identities
This idea of identifying identities gave me a strong framework to apply to the objects in my house. Is this item part of who I am today, or will it be part of my certain future? If not, out it goes. This also helps me when faced with a buying decision. Does this item fit who I am right now or in the clear direction I am going? I do not want to refill these beautiful spaces I am clearing. We need white space around our focal points.
So right now, this day, here are some of my identities – big and small – and the stuff I’m keeping to equip them:
- I am a wife
- I am a reader
- I am a friend
- I am a child of God
Some of the identities I found hiding in forgotten corners were ones I had in the past but no longer, and some were identities I thought I might have someday but have lost interest or the time. I cherish the memories, but I don’t need the stuff.
I am happy with the identities I’ve chosen for today. I can see them clearly and with greater purpose, and I am excited about them. Happily, my identities for today do not bind me to what my identities are in the future, and that is a beautiful thing.
Decluttering Possessions, Releasing Guilt
This identity concept still doesn’t account for all the extra stuff in my house. There’s still the 46 coffee cups I just counted in my kitchen – 46. How does that even happen?
Nonetheless, the really entrenched stuff, the stuff that is deeply tied to my emotions, my public guilts, and private shames, is most often caught up in this whirl of identities. I am letting them go. May they live a long and happy life, bringing joy and utility to others.
That is another beautiful thing. Those bins of excess fabric – you may turn them into gorgeous quilts that will warm and hearten. Those pasta makers – you may use them to feed and cheer. Sitting where they’ve been in my house has, in a sense, robbed others of a means of warmth and comfort.
In my last post, Everything You Buy Is Trash, I discussed generating less trash, and here I’m talking about getting rid of things. With a little thought, I can find happy, loving homes for most of the excess in my house without resorting to a landfill.
Finding New Homes for Excess
Where is all that stuff I evicted going? Much of it to a yard sale benefiting a Moms group I’m part of. But I certainly could have hosted a Kitchen Swap and hopefully exchanged my pasta machines, meat grinder, and cake decorating gear for pie or bread pans – but not another mug. The toddler books went to a friend with younger children, and the English Renaissance books to our library’s used book store. The electric train went to a mom in my Moms group for her husband to fiddle with, and the music books to a local music exchange.
The fabric is going to the quilting group at my church. For other ideas of whom to benefit with your castoffs, check out this thorough list.
Embracing the New Vision
What about you? Who are you, and what stuff is holding you down from being fully that? Open your closets with new vision. Instead of seeing the same old stuff, see if you can find identities that don’t fit you anymore or perhaps never did. I’d love to hear about some of those strangers you end up evicting.
As I’ve said, green living is freer living. Simplify your space, and you’ll simplify your life. Declutter your identities, and you’ll declutter your path forward. The journey to a greener future starts within your own four walls – or 46 coffee mugs, as the case may be.
So take a deep breath, open that drawer, and get ready to meet some old friends. It’s time to set them free.