Giving away 365 things
I have too much stuff.
It’s a common lament in today’s First World, but lately I am feeling more and more palpably the weight of my possessions and clutter. They eat into my space. Not just my physical space (I’m typing this on my laptop in the one clear spot on my kitchen table, surrounded by stacks of paper) but my mental and psychic space.
About a year and a half ago, as many readers know, I set an intention to begin living in a warm climate – specifically, the beautiful city of San Diego – between December and March of each year. I would do this by quitting my “day job” of ten years, and transitioning to full-time work in my Happy to Listen empathetic listening practice and/or this Dream Into Change coaching practice. This coming December was to be the beginning of that new way of life.
It’s not going to happen this year. I still have only a few clients, not nearly enough to transition away from my full-time day job. There are many reasons for this, but I’m starting to think that my attachment to my stuff may be a part of it.
When I began visioning this new way of life, I pictured myself living nimbly. I would own few possessions. I would rent out my condo here in Portland, and rent a room in San Diego, and travel lightly (possibly by train and/or bike) between the two cities. When I think about that now, it is hard to imagine myself moving so nimbly and lightly.
When I feel myself overwhelmed by physical objects in my space, somehow it seems to shrink my time, as well. I find myself escaping the chaos into the Internet, and before you know it, hours have gone by, and I need to sleep. I haven’t used that time to see clients. I haven’t used it to do the behind-the-scenes work necessary to build up a thriving practice, either.
So I think it’s time for me to clear out this clutter. I am going to set a new intention to move to San Diego next winter, in December of 2014. That gives me about 15 months to get things going. And my first step will be to give away at least one possession per day for the next year. 365 possessions. They may be large or small – mostly small, since that’s mostly what I have – but I will give away one per day, on average. (I’ll probably take time off for vacations and maybe weekends, but when I do, I’ll give away more things on other days.) My plan is to post these items on local free websites and/or Facebook pages, and anything that is not spoken for I will take to a thrift store or put in a free box.
Yes. This feels good. Let the lightening begin!