Mindfully addressing stuff

After my last post, it’s clear that I need to resume my glorious purge after spending so much time sick. I haven’t gotten back up to my one item per day, and that’s okay. The first year was to address the abundance of crap in my apartment. The second year is to mindfully address what stuff I have left.

Mindfully address may sound like woo-bullshit, but it means I’m going to ask myself the following:

Make sure everything has a home.

Can I put it away?

Make sure everything has a purpose.

Sentimental value is synonymous with no value.

Does it serve me or do I serve it?

Will it make my life hell on moving day?

The last question is important, because I’m thinking of moving in the next year. I want to be closer to work, and in a place that’s easier to heat in the winter.

I got rid of a few things:

• Some old notebooks I’d tried journaling in. They were full, and I know I’ll never look back at them or care about my wordcount (I’m a writer) from last June.
• More mason jars: I’m actually running out of yucky jars. I might try bartering some of the nicer ones.
• An unused pair of shoes I didn’t like. Before you berate me too much, they cost $1.
• My unused car speakers! Traded for two six packs of Newcastle beer, two science fiction books and two leather pouches. The leather pouches are hard at work carrying my laptop cables, and I will enjoy the SF books on my way to work.

 

I turned this into beer, and books.

That’s it for now. I’m going to put more emphasis on trading stuff for food and other consumables in the future. Less stuff will go to donation, but I’ll get some kind of compensation for it, which is good.