Operation Radical Simplification #1

Since my days of forced simple living from 1999-2000 with Team Voltron for Mission Year I have been dabbling in the discipline of simplicity.  As I have gotten older and lived more I realize every single day how much stuff I have accumulated and how truly meaningless 95% of that stuff is.  American culture is a consumer driven culture.  We, as good citizens, are expected to fuel our economy and help create jobs and wealth by making sure we participate in our economy.  The problem is, its all gotten completely out of hand.  We have become a throw away society.  We get rid of stuff not because its no longer useful or its been used up but simply because we don't like it anymore.  The pattern on the couch doesn't compliment those we see on television or in magazines.  Trends change so our decor must keep up.  Same with our clothes, beauty products, shoes, rugs, picture frames, cars, houses, bedding, plates, cookware, socks, etc.  Its really ridiculous when you think about it.  In our global society that is media driven and saturated with information every single person in ht United States is woefully aware of how other people around the world live on much, much less than we do.  The crazy thing is, we usually feel pity for those poor souls with no expendable income to buy more clothes, shoes, video games, and random crap to sit around on our coffee tables, counters and shelves to make us look chic.  I don't feel pity for those people.  I am envious of their freedom.  Of course, I am talking about people who have food, shelter, running water, etc....well maybe not even running water...but people who are able to live with less and be content.  And be happy.

This year I am consciously starting Operation Radical Simplification.  I have done tons of reading, tons of soul searching, tons of thinking on the topic and now, I am moving closer to where I want to be.  Before I moved into my home just over a year ago, I went through a major purge.  I am in the process of doing that again now.

It's taken me a while to get going with the actual removal of stuff from my home because of the guilt I felt.  My house is full of gifts people have given me and stuff that I have foolishly spent my hard earned money on over the years.  Again, the vast majority of that stuff is truly meaningless to me at this point in my quest for simplicity.  Please don't be offended or misunderstand me.  I understand that some stuff holds a great deal of meaning for people  I have books that I will never part with.  I have gifts from friends-like a small statue of three cats that my coworker Tasha gave me during my first year of teaching in Chicago, pictures in frames that I love, a yellow flowered napkin holder that holds endless happy memories from my childhood days visiting my Aunt Amy and Uncle Pete.  But there are also many, many things that simply have no meaning for me any longer or were bought during a random phase in my life or were bought simply to decorate.  Again, decorating is fine, but I want my decor to be simple and intentional.  I don't want a house full of stuff that just sits around with no real purpose.  Of course, I will have some things around and I will choose those items carefully and with intention.  And, some things will inevitably end up in a box to be kept in storage because they still have meaning for me but I don't want them out.  Eventually, my goal is to even let go of those things that sit in boxes in the shed.

I've been struggling with this shift to minimalist simplicity for a long time because it is completely counter cultural.  For the last six weeks stores have been full of Halloween decorations.  Now, they are full of Christmas decorations.  While at WalMart today (generally I don't shop at WalMart but my mom wanted bath rugs that were there, so there I was) I had a hard time not stocking on up on clearance Halloween stuff and getting some Christmas decor for this year.  But I stopped myself and I thought about it...and when I really, truly think about it, I don't want any of that.  I don't want to take the time or spend the money on changing my decor for the seasons. I'd rather use my money to provide food, shelter, clothing, education or hope in some way to the world.

This journey has been a long journey because it is so counter cultural.  To choose to live simply and to choose to reject consumerism and cultural expectations of stuff is hard.  Every day I see the decorations, I see the new trends, I hear people discussing their plans for redecorating, I see the cute, fun stuff at Target or wherever I am, I see the endless ads that pop up on facebook and get the daily emails of great deals that are in my future to make my life better.  I'm focusing my heart, soul and mind on realizing that the stuff they are selling will not make my life better.  Its stuff that will take my money, take my time, and add to stuff in my life and home I have to take care of.

My goal is for every thing within my home to be one of the following: useful or meaningful and lasting.  Useful means it is something I have used within the last year.  There are things that we all have that we don't use every day-or even every month-but they are still useful and worth keeping around.  My cookie press for example, only comes out at Christmas time for baking.  My pie plates are used mostly at Thanksgiving.  My extra casserole dishes are used only sometimes.  But even with that stuff, as I am going through this process I am being strict with myself.  If it hasn't been used in a year, it needs to go.  And then the flip side comes in, when shopping, I need to be intentional as well.  I have to limit myself to only purchasing something that I know I will use immediately and repeatedly.  And if there is any question as to the object in question's true usefulness, it needs to stay in the store.

I also want everything in my home to bring me joy.  That is going to take longer to make happen because it will involve carefully, intentionally saving up money to buy furniture that will be lasting and useful.  That requires a lot of planning, measuring, and shopping around.

I have no idea how long this process will take or what the end result will be...but I am on my way...today there are three big bags of clothing/blankets/etc and a couple of boxes of other stuff to be given away...