#22 There IS enough (or: Getting rid of more stuff)

Before I moved abroad I "Spark-Joyed" my house. It took the entire school year, but I did it just like Marie Kondo suggested: beginning with the clothes, I put them all in a pile on the bed, then held up each one  and asked myself, "does this bring me joy?". Yes: keep. No: donate. Then there were the papers, the books, etc.

One of the benefits of the perspective change I had during winter vacation in Africa and Dubai has been the revelation that I was creating my own misery. Not just by complaining and self-pitying, but by clinging. I have too much stuff.  Even after living here just 5 months, Marie Kondo was right. When I moved here I was so afraid of not having enough that I bought up things from people leaving the school so that I wouldn't have to go without anything. The result has been that I arrived to a bunch of more or less crap in my house. 

What a good lesson it has been to realize that while I do advocate reusing and buying second-hand, I did not need to compulsively buy things that were kinda or not at all close to what I would really use out of a desperate attempt to overcome scarcity thinking. You see, when you move to an international school, they generally provide you with the essentials for living, which includes not only furniture and a basic set of towels and sheets, but a new set of dishes and cookware. 

I, on the other hand, had about 4 boxes full of someone's old stuff that was well, well used and too much. Of all of that stuff I have basically kept an iron, a few kitchen utensils, a towel and a space heater. Today I took my final batch of stuff outside: this is the equivalent of donating to Idaho Youth Ranch or Goodwill, except there is no tax deduction for leaving it on a bench outside!

So tonight my kitchen and my heart are a little less crowded. 

The bend I take stuff I don't want or need anymore. I forgot to take a picture of the stuff when I put it out before my run but when I came back 1 1/2 hours later to get a snapshot, the stuff was already gone.

The last of the stuff I currently realize I don't need anymore.