I’ve always liked simplicity. Yet, I have had two huge rounds of decluttering in the past 6 months. I try to follow a minimalist philosophy, so how and why does this happen?
After re-reading the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, I felt inspired again to look around my house. With another round of decluttering, I realized I have really wasted money on stuff. Things that after I donated, I honestly don’t even miss or think about. This was bags of stuff. Stuff I bought either because I thought I would eventually use it or thought I’d get to, sometime. And it was a second round, because I had done decluttering at year end last year! Of course, being in a house for years and years, you are bound to accumulate things, but still it bothers me. When I moved in, I had one room’s worth of possessions and like a koi, I grew to fill the space I lived in. Not sure if the koi thing is true, actually, but it’s funny to imagine.
A big problem I noticed, was the things I bought online. So simple, but so easy to abuse. I noticed a lot of what I got rid of were things bought online that I didn’t end up liking and probably wouldn’t have bought in person. The quality was not what I expected at all or it just wasn’t what I was looking for exactly. Another huge problem due to shopping online is the free shipping minimums. Often, I end up spending more than I need to get free shipping, which I’m sure is done by design. For example, I’m buying loose tea. Ideally I would get one flavor, finish it, and then buy another, but this isn’t what happens. I get a few to hit that free shipping because it feels like a waste to pay for it when I could get more products instead. This happens with many things. I’d rather shop in stores, but it’s often hard to find the items I’m looking for in person and of course it’s more of an inconvenience to go to a bunch of different stores. This isn’t always an issue. I usually end up using the food items I get when it comes to this, but it can be a problem.
Another big issue is the delusional aspect of shopping. It’s very easy to get tricked into buying stuff in the moment by ads and the psychological manipulation that is used. Things look appealing. They look useful. They aren’t expensive or they’re on sale. The person you want to be would absolutely use them. Something I now keep at the front of my mind is that at the root of consumer culture is that you are being manipulated. And just knowing that pisses me off enough to stay aware. A big part of this, I’ve noticed in the last few years is the subtly of it. I noticed that watching certain videos they are covertly advertising stuff, whether intentional or not, I don’t know and it really doesn’t matter. It clearly has an effect. People are more likely to buy something they see others using and especially if the person is saying how great the product is. There’s a reason that big shows and movies get free products that are then shown to a huge audience, it’s a form of advertising! Or in some cases, I bet they are even paying to have their products shown. I noticed that I sometimes get a desire to buy something after watching YouTube videos where they are using products, usually casually. I realized that I needed to minimize the videos I watch and avoid channels like this. It’s just as useless as watching TV, anyway. But I think this is a very subtle form of advertising and it works. If you are aware of it, it’s not as much of a problem, but it can be very subtle. There’s at least a few things I bought in previous years, because I liked how it looked in a video. Later I realized it’s completely useless to my life and wondered why I bought it or even wanted it to begin with.
Another cause of clutter is that you want to do something, but in reality you don’t have the time. There’s a lot of things I really want to do. I want to learn to play the Erhu and the Hammered Dulcimer. Maybe I will one day. But do I currently have the willingness to commit the time required every day? When I started playing piano, I’d practice for hours every day. This isn’t sustainable long term, but it’s what it took for me in the short term. Same thing with singing, and then singing while playing piano, these things required significant practice over time. I had to get rid of my violin, because I realized I just wasn’t using it over years and years of having it. I also have a guitar and ukulele. I can play beginner stuff on both, but again, am I going to spend at least a bare minimum of a half hour a day on these instruments? I want to… but realistically I don’t want to have such a strict schedule where I HAVE to do all this stuff daily either! I have enough daily stuff that I do. And the more I commit to, the less of a simple life I can have, which is really what I want. So, it’s a balance of keeping what you love doing in your life and maybe branching out when and if you can. But it is so easy to delude yourself into thinking you can do much more than you really are physically able to. If you take something new on, you likely have to give an existing thing up, at least for a while.
The same goes for products. There’s only so much food I can eat and store where it makes sense. To much and you loose track of it all, things expire and it’s wasteful. There’s only so many clothes and shoes I can wear and keep track of. I can think of a few items I truly love. The truth is, most products are just ok. I settled for them because that’s what was available, it felt good to buy them in the moment. I now have a policy that I wont buy something unless it’s to replace something I have. This goes for most things such as electronics, kitchen items, beauty items, furniture, clothes and shoes. This at least prevents things from accumulating. I just replaced my 10 year old camera and that was fine, it felt justified. I was thinking about replacing my electric keyboard, but now I’m considering finding a way to record my videos on the piano instead. This would reduce clutter and I prefer to use the piano anyway.
Through this process I have become more aware, which is a benefit in and of itself. It’s brought me greater peace, clarity and focus. I don’t need a house full of crap and I don’t need to spend a ton of money. I like the freedom of open space and I can’t stand clutter. I’ve moved closer to seeing what’s truly valuable and necessary in my life.