Decluttering and Freedom

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen

Although this fits with my frequent dealing with bereavement theme, it also deals with psychological and even spiritual freedoms. Keep reading. You will thank me later.

Some people equate clutter with filth, which is not necessarily the case. (Clutter with organic material that should have been thrown away, yes, that is filth and attracts crunchy bugs.) Some folks want their homes like museums where nothing is out of place. Many others accept a few things that are not put away. Then there is the out-of-sight clutter.

Clutter, Pexels / Bingqian Li (enhanced)

Aside from things we set down and walk away from, why do we have clutter? Carelessness for one. Also, being distracted; the phone rings while carrying something through the front door. Those are the immediate things and they can be put where they belong later. But there are sheds, basements, hobby rooms, and other places that are full of things that aren't exactly useful.

It gets difficult to declutter. One reason is the fear that something might be needed after it's gone. "This is still perfectly good, why discard it?" is another. Some things are from hobbies and interests in the past, or memories... I have stuff to remove that belonged to Charlene, my dear departed wife. When she first passed away, some things were easy, such as clothes and personal items. Also, I was expecting a crisis where I might lose the apartment and have to move, but that never materialized. Although some of her things are gone, I still need to eliminate many.

More than once in my life I needed to pare down possessions due to relocating, and I was nowhere near being considered a senior citizen. A new dwelling forces people to face some hard truths, which includes removing "still perfectly good" items. When there's time, yes, find someone who may want certain items. Decluttering is inevitable when senior citizens become elderly and infirm, needing to live in assisted living facilities. Sometimes it becomes urgent and drastic. At that time, there's no sense in feeling guilty about removing things.

Living more simply is something many people should learn, and it is spiritually sound: Do you own things, or do things own you? The Bible has many warnings about being attached to wealth and material possessions. We can get more concerned with accumulating items, being a materialist in that sense, than with spiritual matters. Not having stuff, and especially not feeling compelled to get more stuff, is psychologically freeing; the pressure of getting and maintaining things is greatly reduced. Life gets simplified.

Having fewer possessions can also be a gift to children, friends, and relatives who may either have to help you move, or deal with your things after you've shuffled off the mortal coil.

I remember my brother telling me that when he and his wife had to bring our elderly parents from Florida back to Michigan, there was tremendous clutter. Part of it was medications, boxes full (many untouched) and prescription slips waiting to be filled. (I reckon it's an indictment of many medical professionals who simply throw pills at patients.) Plus, hundreds of photographs. My mother just had to take pictures at gatherings, but the people in them remained unknown.

There was a guy I knew who lived on a rural patch of land. He was a "backyard mechanic" and had a shed full of stuff as well as stuff in the yard. "Might need it someday." Yep, that radiator from a 1975 Pontiac Catalina will fit lots of things, right? Nope.

The parents in the first example were victims in some ways, the man in the second instance was making choices. For both, many things were junk that had to be removed. Getting it out of there wasn't easy.

There are many sites, books, and videos dedicated to decluttering. One idea that stayed with me is taking pictures and putting them in scrapbooks. (Yes, people still print out pictures, they're not always digital.) F'rinstance, that quilt. You don't need it now, but it has sentimental value, so it takes up space. Take a picture, clip a section, and mount them in a scrapbook. I'll allow that things that are from hobbies (past and present) or have personal attachments are much more difficult to let go.

Here's another tip, which is one of the oldest: Set a time limit. It can be when you are going through things, or have it in mind before you open that box. Have you used it in the past year, or have you forgotten the item even existed? It's a candidate for removal. Similarly, I was in a kind of shock after I lost my wife. When I realized I was not desperate to get rid of everything, I could slow down. Pause on some things, reconsider after two years. If there's no need or immediate memory for the two of us, no plans to fit my life now, there was a good chance it could go away.

As for me, I have pictures in digital form. They are backed up on more than one drive. Also, Windows lets us have give files long-ish names, so I do that. The clutter is on my hard drives, but at least it's not on the living room floor.

Memories are important, and they are a big part of who we are. But we cannot live in the past. Similarly, keeping stuff because it may be useful in the future is unproductive. We live in the present. Sure, there are exceptions. Just the other day, the doctor told me to split one of my prescription pills. Oh, great. I had to go purchase a replacement pill splitter for the one I had thrown out just a month ago. But that exception doesn't validate keeping everything and living in a "maybe" future. Indeed, the thing I needed, I bought.

Simplifying, minimalizing possessions, being less attached, those bring freedom. You savvy that, pilgrim? What follows is a video that has some flaws in the production (an American accent talking about money in pounds sterling, for one), but it has several points to consider. Although it is targeted to people over sixty, there is much that younger people can use.