Meditations on stuff

Photo by foto76

I’m reading Stuff, by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee, a book about hoarding.

People have different feelings about their belongings. Those who hoard usually have difficulty with decision making and may feel compelled to keep things that the rest of us could easily let go.

Not everyone who has clutter, however, is a hoarder. In fact, just about everyone has some clutter in their lives.

Two articles I recently read, both of which are marginally about clutter and really have more to do with finances, also made me think about how people relate to their stuff.

In the Get Rich Slowly post In Defense of Clutter, the author says of minimalism

"We can all agree that our belongings or the desire for more of them shouldn’t control us. But neither should we hold ourselves to an ideal that might not be practical or sustainable for us personally.”

There seems to be a backlash against the simple-living philosophy by people who say the lifestyle isn’t warm or welcoming or congenial. Those people would never be able to live without the things they feel define them.

In the New York Times article, The Case for Spending a Little More Sometimes, the author encourages readers to live with less by buying fewer, better things. He says this

“Here is the issue: when we settle for stuff that we don’t really want, and instead buy [cheap] stuff that will be fine for a [short] while, it often costs more in the long run.”

 

What about you? Do you prefer to live in a minimal environment or do you like to be surrounded by stuff?

 

Organized by Marcie TM: Save time and money by letting go of what you don't need and finding room for what you value
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