We are gradually letting go of things that just don't fit in the tiny house.
A water jug we got at OK with credit from our wedding registry. A mid-century modern floor lamp scored at Goodwill. An ice-ball tray Maker's Mark sent me a couple of Christmases ago.
Why do we get so attached to THINGS?
As H said, "Things don't love you back."
THINGS DON'T GIVE A FUCK.
Photo by ANNALEENAS HEM via Jennifer Hagler via Aysen Orhon. (One day I'll have a night stand that is not a stack of printed material. Right??)
<3 this so much.
ReplyDeletelady pants, i am SO good at giving stuff away, that it could actually be considered a problem. often times, i wish so hard that i could hold onto ANYTHING. so if you ever need help giving shit away, i am here for you.
ReplyDeletealso, i've been on a hunt for a good midcentury floor lamp. i'd say it's a bummer that you gave yours away, but i'm sure i'd eventually do the same anyway.
Some people not only love objects, they fall in love with objects.
ReplyDeleteWHAT. THE.
Delete? ? ? ?
When we moved cross country, we left behind like 80% of our things. I miss about 10% of them.
ReplyDeleteSo. Love this.
Ohhh. You got a house. Exciting! Letting go of stuff is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteYOU ARE SPEAKING TO ONLY ME, RIGHT ? thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeletei thought we discussed how we were going to add your superfluous possessions to my sleeping hoard. GOD friends are flaky when you're a dragon.
ReplyDeletetrue, but some things you love so much that it doesn't matter whether they love you back or not. but some de cluttering is always good.
ReplyDeleteTrue, so true. Things don't love you back. That's what my grandmother always says. It's useful to remember when you need to get rid of things, not such a helpful thing to hear when your dog chewed up your favorite shoes.
ReplyDeleteBut then... she grew up in the Depression, her mom ran a boarding house, and when one of the boarders stole Mimi's pen (her only birthday/Christmas present), her mom told her she couldn't do anything about it because she didn't want to piss of the boarder and risk her moving out. This story used to make me cry (and feel like a spoiled brat).
(Other awful guilt story involved kids from her school bringing a basket of food to a needy home, Mimi answered the door and they were kids from her school who had no idea she was "needy." Ugh. UGH.
Printed material and plants are the twin pillars of my design philosophy. ('design''philosophy'?)
ReplyDeleteSo I say keep the stacks.
I try to remember that "the memory is not the object". I am also an intense rationaliser of "it *might* be useful someday"... AND THEN SOMETIMES I'M RIGHT. So.
Frankly, living in a small London flat (and moving regularly - there's nothing like packing to make you *wish* you didn't own the shit you do) is probably the only thing saving me from Hoarders.
Totally, unfounddoor - I was going to make the comment about stuff maybe being useful. I have SO many craft supplies - honestly, stuff I've never even done (much of it inherited from my grandmother). I also refuse to get rid of any shoes I still like, even if I never wear them (a lot of my high heels). I mean, I already own them, right?
DeleteI have a giant apartment, though. So until a baby becomes part of the picture, we have room for my shoes and crafts.
We managed to move so many boxes of books to Newfoundland 3 years ago, and last spring moved so many boxes of books back down with us. We "very seriously" went through to get rid of some and probably gave away... 20. Somehow we're still holding on to a ton of them. But maybe books are different.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I miss from our old apartment up there was our kitchen table, which we found at Goodwill for $25. I didn't realize a) what a nice table it was and b) how much more expensive much crappier tables can be until we moved down here... everything else though, good riddance!
I definitly feel books are different. I can easily purge stuff, but books are hard to get rid of.
Deletepurging feels SO GOOD. embrace it. xx
ReplyDeleteThink of it as stuff-karma. If you give a great mid-century lamp to the Goodwill, you are contributing to the great flow of stuff sloshing around California, and that tide will soon deposit a perfect pair of nightstands into your life. That's how it works. Don't be stingy with your stuff-karma.
ReplyDeleteSTUFF KARMA!
Deleteoakland needs your floor lamp! we've been on the search for an affordable mid-century friend to replace our $25 ikea monstrosity for months now..
ReplyDeletefigures
i've already promised it to celia, or it would be yours.
Deletesince you're in oakland, though, callie, you can probably have it when celia gets rid of it.
DeleteSTUFF KARMA!
DeleteSpeaking of STUFF KARMA, Rachel A\\\\\ has offer to take this baby off my hands. Even though things don't give a fuck, I feel all warm and fuzzy knowing they're going to good homes.
ReplyDeleteYayyeeeeee
DeletePreach it.
ReplyDeletei don't know; things have an agency all of their own, which is why their hold over us is so strong. they are the material culture of our lives, the physical traces of our memories... but, then, i study ancient things to study ancient lives. and i could never go minimalist. [on things, lives of, see Miller, David (Material Cultures: Why Things Matter; Stuff; The Comfort of Things; Home Possessions: Material Culture Behind Closed Doors). Too much?]
ReplyDelete