I love the book of proverbs. It is filled with short sayings that on the surface can seem rather simplistic and yet they hold deep truths. Proverbs 25:16 is one such verse: “If you find honey, eat just enough- too much of it, and you will vomit.” No Duh. But if we sit with these words, we will realize that too much of anything is too much. And yet, we still buy and buy and buy stuff to add to our already overstuffed homes.
Like the Israelites during the wilderness period, when they cried out for food and God sent them manna. They were told only to collect what each person could eat on any given day and no more. But there were some who collected more only to discover the next day, the manna had rotted and was filled with maggots. A pretty disgusting sight. The thing is, there is only so much any one person needs. I find that to be true right now for me as I am going through all my stuff as I work to downsize. I do not want to be taking care of stuff I am not using.
And that is the other thing about stuff. The more you have the more you have to take care of, and the more you have to take care of, the less time you have to do those things that you enjoy. So, I am going through stuff. I am very diligent to keep an empty box in my garage and as soon as it is full, because I go through things a little at a time, the box goes to one of the local charities in the area. And then I set out another box. And no, I don’t buy them. I have lots of sources for empty boxes.
The other aspect of having too much stuff is that it begins to control you. In our society today, we have a massive storage industry that has sprung up around the fact that we don’t sell, give away, repurpose, donate, or toss what we have in excess. Instead, we pay people to store our stuff that we don’t use. Think about that. Why in the world are we paying to store stuff we are not using, not going to use, and don’t need. It is one thing to store something we use but don’t have the space for right now. It is one thing to store stuff as we prepare to move into a larger space. It is nuts to store stuff we don’t need and will never use.
And what happens to stuff that isn’t used? It rusts, rots, or deteriorates to the point that we have to throw it out instead of letting someone else get some use from the stuff we don’t need or in all honesty want. So, I am purging. I am getting rid of what I don’t need. My house is feeling lighter already and I am nowhere near done. It feels good. And now for my next stop which will be my office/craft room. If you don’t hear from me in a while…send in the Marines!
The bottom line, at least for me, is that my home is feeling a lot more peaceful. And my home was not a hoarder’s mess to begin with. This will be something I will work on for a while. I even plan to go through all my books…and (this is hard to type) all my shoes. Yes, even my shoes will get purged. I will probably do them last.
Purging all the unnecessary stuff is a good Lenten activity. Lent asks us to really think about how we are living in this world we inhabit. For me, I know I need a peaceful place to live that invites people into a safe and welcoming space. Clutter is not welcoming so it is being purged out of my life one drawer, one cabinet, one room at a time. And it really does feel lighter!
Won’t you consider joining me in getting rid of what you don’t need, want, or use?
Peace,
Beth
Beth's Blog 