Whether you own a lot or a little, your possessions reflect who you are. The things you hold on to and cart from home to home must have meaning to you (otherwise why would you keep them). Some things are functional, others are beautiful and others still are a reflection of your emotional state. But, do you own your possessions or do they own you? With ownership comes responsibility. Possessions require protection, care, polishing, upkeep, insurance and maintenance. So, un-cluttering your space may just free up your time as well. Take a journey through your life by assessing everything you own with a view to freeing your emotional and psychical self up for more space and more opportunities.

Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre contended that ‘to have’ is one of the three categories of human existence (the others being ‘to be’ and ‘to do’). The psychology of ownership has been explored extensively over the years and in order to fully understand it, one must see that possessions can also be people (my lover, my child) as well as things other than physical objects – words or ideas are also viewed in terms of ‘mine’. Debates abound, however, and while ‘having’ is seen as an intrinsic human need, having too much is also linked to not being able to self-actualise – it distracts and detracts.

SHOULD IT STAY OR SHOULD IT GO?

Having possessions can afford you a sense of security, creating a deep sense of self erosion if they are lost or taken away, and can allow you to maintain a sense of continuity through the things that have become a symbolic sense of who you are. Even birds’ take possession of the tree they’ve built their nest in, defending their territory with a fierce sense of ownership.

But just how do you sift through your clutter to create a less muddled environment? Minimalist and author Joshua Becker says de-cluttering isn’t good enough – he insists that de-owning is much more freeing. The difference is in where you put the ‘stuff’ you’ve deemed not necessary. If you create a space in the top of a cupboard or even go so far as to rent storage space for it, it’s still there, in your life. Also, when you’re packaging things to store them, you don’t give them as much thought as you would when assessing them for the give- or throw-away pile.

But unilaterally getting rid of things isn’t a very green practise – take time to consider how else (the last glass left in a set could be used as a toothbrush holder) or where else (a friend or a charity for example) the item could be used. If you want to de-clutter, look at what you have and categorise everything, loosely based on the following: useful and needed; beautiful and functional; beautiful but useless; sentimental (negative or positive connotations); useful but not essential.

Tip: Use the 6-month test. If you haven’t looked at, used or thought about an item for 6 months, chances are that you don’t really need it

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful – William Morris – textile designer, writer and artist

MAKE IT COUNT

Once you’ve made your piles, decide how to go forward. If you want to donate some of your unwanted goods to a charity, find out if they actually have need for it. You could also decide to sell a few items so you can purchase something you don’t actually have but really need (e.g. A 10-seater dining suite that doesn’t fit in your home can be sold or swapped for a couch); or you may want to create a ritual bonfire for all those old love letters, which could facilitate in creating closure for past relationships. Try the two for one rule – get rid of two in order to keep one.

Tip: When buying a new item, investigate its origin and manufacture so you can ensure new purchases are as kind as possible to the environment

Tip: Ask a friend to help you make decisions – people are far less likely to make a ‘keep’ decision if the item isn’t theirs

DID YOU KNOW: A recent study indicated that money spent on experiences, rather than things, brought about a greater sense of wellbeing? So, instead of spending your spare cash on yet another dust-collecting item, perhaps a ticket to an outdoor concert will serve you better.

EMOTIONAL CLUTTER

Emotional baggage is quite simplistically negative emotion that we cling to and build upon whenever something of a similar negative situation occurs. For example, if the first time you felt fear (as a young child) was linked to someone taking away your favourite toy, then you may well feel the same sense of trepidation whenever someone touches your ‘things’ without your expressed permission. After a time of not dealing with the fear, it could become an automatic reaction, spurring your behaviour to come across as somewhat selfish or irrational. It may not be at all what you’re actually thinking or feeling, but the automatic response will also dictate how other people respond to you, affecting your relationships. Letting go of that first fear could spark a domino effect of letting go of all the fearful emotions tied up in similar situations, freeing you of a constricting and untrue behaviour or thought pattern. This is why it’s important to examine your split-second responses to certain situations and truly explore the root cause of such reactions.

SENTIMENTAL JUNK

Getting rid of emotionally charged items in your life isn’t easy. Ask yourself how the item is serving you and what emotional response it engenders in you. For example, if you’ve been hanging on to travel brochures that formed part of a dream holiday you didn’t go on because you broke up with your lover, the emotions attached may be guilt or anger, sadness, disappointment, hopelessness and so on. Suffice to say; those types of emotions won’t serve you well. The lover is gone, the holiday didn’t materialise – don’t dwell on that; rather remember the joy of planning and the love shared and then move on by throwing out the ‘stuff’. In other words, keep the memories, but get rid of the things.

 

 

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