Getting Rid of Stuff

Cooking Tortillas in Mayan village

If you have clothes to wear, food to eat and a home to live in, you have more than 70% of the people on earth.

During church today we talked about turning points in people's lives.  Jan shared the story of when she had to rush to Walter Reed Hospital from her home in Puerto Rico to be at her husband's side.  She quickly packed a small travel bag, not carefully thought through because of her hurry, but with a few pairs of jeans, t-shirts etc., expecting to be gone a week or two.  She was gone seven months and during that time, she got by with the contents of that small bag.   For her it was a turning point in her thoughts about the import - or rather the un-import of stuff and it changed her life.  She realized that she didn't need a lot of stuff - she could get by without it. Even today, years later, she and her husband live by a creed that if they are to buy something it must be either useful or beautiful and they don't keep - or buy in the first place - things they don't really need.

But getting rid of things you already have - that is the tough part.  We talked about the things we have that may not be beautiful or even useful but are precious because of some attachment - a piece of jewelry owned by a great aunt, a trophy from a special time in your life, a gift from a loved one, your father's tie.  What do you do with these things that accumulate and to which you are attached, but you won't ever use?  I don't really have an answer, but here are a few thoughts people shared:

1.  Try to identify what is really important - is it the item, or the memory attached to it?
2.  Take a photo, for instance, of your child next to the art work they've just created with the date and age.  Keep the photo rather than the artwork.
3.  Find other family members to pass things onto.  Perhaps the young nieces and nephews would be happy to have one of grandpa's books now that they are older.
4.  Find a meaningful use for your object in another place and know that it will be loved by someone else.  Martha's Closet, for instance, takes good professional suits and clothing that people can use to look presentable for a job interview.
 
And then, of course, there is just all of that other stuff - not precious, not needed.  Kathy Magnuson sent me this great article from the Women's Press with one woman's fine tuned recycling resources.  Want to know what to do with your metal scraps, plastics, coat hangers, fabric, mesh bags etc., etc.?  Click here

Of course, there is always the garage sale and, my favorite - put your items on the curb and say FREE!  It's amazing how quickly that big old sofa will disappear.

Goodwill and other charitable organizations would love to pick up your used items.  In fact, the big yellow card from the Epilepsy Foundation came in the mail yesterday.  I think that tomorrow, I'll go through the house and gather some items to leave by the curb for them to pickup next week.


What ideas do you have?