Goodbye Meaningless

I saw a facebook post from a friend who has recently gone on a month-long trip around Europe with her husband and sons. She wrote that despite being gone for a month, she survived on just a couple of shirts, pants, shorts, and shoes, plus a jacket or two. Once she came back home, she realized that her overflowing closet was completely unnecessary, and immediately decided to throw out over half of it. That really stuck with me, and so I've decided to do the same (unfortunately without the Europe vacation).

I have noticed that I am pretty reliant on my things. I have a lot of clothes, as well as different types of clothes, but I still sometimes feel that I need more. I'm tempted by almost all clothing sale ads that come up on my computer, and even when I do buy more clothes, I can never bring myself to give away the really old ones that will then never be used. I can go a couple weeks without doing laundry, and still find adequate things to wear.

Further, I have drawers and drawers of junk that I don't know what to do with. One of my dresser drawers is completely taken up with this, and to be honest I'm not completely sure what exactly is in it. I attach so much meaning to objects, but all that happens is that when I want to find something that I really need, like headphones or a charger, I have to sift through mountains of things irrelevant to my life now.

There is a fire in the mountains pretty close to my city that has burned down a few houses and threatened hundreds more. Thousands of people have had to evacuate, leaving behind their homes and most of their belongings. It's heartbreaking to think about, but I've realized that if it ever happens to me, I don't want to be heartbroken over the things lost in the fire; obviously, I will be heartbroken over my sudden lack of home, and understandably disappointed over money lost. But I want to be able to turn my back on the things lost and remain happy that I am with my family and able to move on. It is the same for if my house ever was robbed.

So my newest project will be to throw out at least half of my things that I have not used/worn since moving here. I'm talking multiple garbage bags. Afterwards, my room should be easier to clean and organize, and hopefully I can go on from there to continue to detach myself from materialistic things.