All my stuff fits into those two criteria

[...] Rich Slowly has an interesting article about people who hoard things (I fall into this category as someone who hoards books… [...]

I may be one of the few, but I feel almost equally trapped by my “need” to get rid of my stuff. I get stressed when I cannot get rid of things.

Please stop perpetuating the myth that the Japanese are minimalist. This is only true in style magazines and architectural digests. Real life looks a lot more like stacks and stacks of junk all over the place. If you don’t believe me, have a look at the book “Tokyo: A Certain Style” by Kyoichi Tsuzuki. That’s real life. That zen, clear space crap is a myth the West eagerly embraces for reasons I can’t fathom. I’m guessing the only people who really live like that are monks. Honestly, I’ve lived in Japan for almost 19 years and I’ve seen places that’d make you shudder.

I started decluttering seriously 4 years ago and have my apartment (which is a tiny place in Tokyo) pretty clear. I keep pruning it around the edges, but I’m pretty happy with it as it is. My main problem is my husband simply refuses to let some things go even though he hasn’t touched them in over decade. As it was, I had to labor long and hard to convince him that he isn’t extracting any additional value from things he spent money on and no longer has any use for. These days, I can’t pry stuff from him that he is convinced he may have a use for again some day or that he may eventually sell (a collection of 2000 music CDs, for instance).

My cleaning out started when I shut down my home office. Good grief, I had accumulated an unbelievable amount of stuff(junk really) in that office, eighteen years worth.

Once I got started I just kept going. Every few months the spirit moves me and I tackle another area. My house is getting pretty empty, but I notice that my girl friend is slowly filling in behind me.

One area that I have been unable to cut down is tools that I have accumulated over many years. Just can’t make myself do it yet.

The Cost of Junk

it’s a little more on the larger-scale societal aspect of hoarding, but it’s a good complement to J.D.’s article.

“…the value of some new acquisition wasn’t the difference between its retail price and what I paid for it. It was the value I derived from it. Stuff is an extremely illiquid asset. Unless you have some plan for selling that valuable thing you got so cheaply, what difference does it make what it’s ‘worth?’ The only way you’re ever going to extract any value from it is to use it. And if you don’t have any immediate use for it, you probably never will.”

http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html

I hear you there. I’m trying to create personal wiki on my home computer to compile all of the “indispensable” information I’ve clipped (Google Notebook) or bookmarked. I’ve got a real problem. Just yesterday I saved a consumer reports article about saving money on baby formula…..I’m at least a year or TWO from even needing that info!

But sooner or later its time to let go. I suppose I don’t need those three spare computer cases from old systems 10+ years ago….

http://www.antishay.com/?p=67
Simplicity Challenge – Halfway There!

It’s been an experience of letting go, to say the least Keep on preaching the word! LOL. We could all use a little less stuff in our lives, I think.

The reality is, all that stuff just ties you down, and there’s incredible freedom in ridding yourself of it. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”