...and not a bit to use.
So I've spent the last few weeks helping several people move. Or at least, eating the food they provide when I show up to help them move. I'm not entirely sure how helpful I've been in every case.
Today's move reminded me of a couple hobbies my parents tried to involve me in growing up - gardening and fish. But I've also gotten to thinking about how much stuff I have...and how much of it I ever use. I'm struck by the 80-20 rule. I use 20% of my stuff 80% of the time. Actually, I suspect it's more like I use 10% of my stuff 90% of the time...and most of it never. But I tend to think of things like "Well, who knows when I'll use this 'Get well' card...it'd be a horrible thing to get rid of, only to discover that I really need one."
Now could I find that card when I actually need it? Probably not. Would I even think of the fact that I have it? Probably not. But it faithfully sits on my shelf, collecting dust and being remembered mostly in cleaning sprees and blog entries.
My desk happens to have a 1 page printout of Master of Orion 3's keyboard shortcuts. Total cost to recreate: Maybe 3 cents? It has sat on my desk for months. I feel that way about a lot of my possessions: With the right alignment of the moon, it'd be useful. Most of the time, it just takes up space.
From time to time, I've thought about finding a giant box and putting all of my various unused items in it and inviting my friends to sort through it. (Anyone looking for a copy of KOTOR I?)
It's weird. I'm hesitant to throw anything away for fear of being wasteful, and yet I'm not clear that my room is serving any purpose for many items other than being a temporary landfill.
It's a problem that makes it hard for me to jump into hobbies. I know my tendency to collect stuff, and I don't really care to jump into a hobby just to collect more stuff.
So today I've been thinking about "What does it mean to be responsible with my stuff? What do I really need to keep? How do I accumulate less that I won't use? And what do I do with the stuff that 'ought' to be useful, but never is? For example, my compass for drawing circles."
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2 comments:
One of my friends (who, coincidentally, helped me sift through the massive piles of absolute junk in my bedroom) has this policy that, if you haven't seen it in a year, throw it out. It tends to be a good plan, but I think he's missing something too. Maybe it's simply that I'm a sentimental fool, but I can't so easily discard certain items, no matter how long they may sit in a box between uses. For example, I kept him from discarding two old blue books, one from my dad's days at UofM, one from my grandfather's days at MSU (labeled Michigan State College, coincidentally). These are a piece of history. Should they be disregarded so easily? (Now I'm beginning to regret throwing away my Grand Valley blue books...) Or there's the card signed by all of InterVarsity, or the little trinket purchased by my old best friend for babysitting her pet rabbit for a week. To discard these would be like discarding a part of my life. Or there are things that haven't been usable in years but suddenly actually have become so again. The wall scrolls and dishes come to mind. Yes, these were extra items just taking up space in my parents' basement, but just because they weren't usable then doesn't mean they aren't now.
Point: be careful when it comes to paring down. You wouldn't want to lose something with hidden value in the process.
Lisa
Alan, I think it is funny that helping Joey made you think to write about STUFF! Like I said, we come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing...what the heck is all the stuff for and where did it come from!!!! Thanks for helping us shuffle stuff around. Wish I could answer your questions. I have the same ones.
~Holly
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