The tyranny of stuff

My bedroom was a mess. In my defence, I have just come through a busy exam period; during which cleaning the room felt too much like procrastination. As I started to clean away the detritus of the three week study session I caught a potent virus - spring cleaning fever. Sure enough, the post-study cleanup blossomed into a full scale sorting operation. 

As I began to clear out files with notes from high-school history and the like, I was struck by the thought that it is so much easier to keep a room clean and orderly if there is less in it! Now, I am a magpie and I do not advocate the minimalist look of a sparse white cube and a bed for a bedroom. However, we are frequently held hostage by the items we acquire. We feel the emotional impact of a chaotic room, or we cant be bothered to move because we have too much stuff or we cant find that favourite shirt under the pile of unworn clothes. The incessant accumulation of possessions takes its toll financially, environmentally and emotionally. 

It felt rather liberating to get rid of so much unnecessary stuff and de-clutter the room and my experience within it. My clean up wasn't perfect, but I feel that as I warm to the process of simplifying my living spaces I will become better at discarding unwanted and unneeded items. As Graham Hill mentions each cubic meter of space or object that you own means more to clean, heat, cool, insure and move. Having less reduces the complexity in your life and can allow you to focus more on what really matters. If you feel like joining me on this journey of editing your life, a website which may prove helpful is Hill's lifeedited.com .

What I feel is valuable about this process is not getting rid of everything or denying yourself that leather jacket you want. The life editing philosophy is more about identifying what you truly want and which of your possessions give you genuine satisfaction and dumping the rest. It is also about realising that objects can have a profound impact on our lives, both in the earning of money so we can afford them and the managing of these hoards. Who knows, maybe you will be able to afford that holiday if you don't buy the latest smartphone and use an older version. If you decide you really do want the phone, then good for you. Just be aware of the cost, in the widest sense, of your purchase. My advice: If you haven't used it in a year - toss it!