Stuff

I was telling my friend Jason recently that I read the average 3 bedroom home has over 350,000 items in it. That’s a lot of stuff. I commented that Jason and I were both above average and could probably make that figure look small. When I shared this info with my sister she said I probably have that amount of shoes. That’s not true. I don’t even have a 100 pairs of shoes, I don’t think. To be honest, I don’t know how many pairs of shoes that I have. Honestly, I’m afraid to count.

We live in a culture of excess. A society that can never have enough stuff. I currently want to sell my house and buy a bigger one. Why? Well, I need more room for my stuff. I haven’t always had the luxury of living in abundance. I was married to a miser (which seems like a lifetime ago) and could count the number of shoes, clothes or whatever little I had. It wasn’t that we were poor, it was that I was just stupid. This could account for why I have so much stuff that I personally own. When I first moved out of my ex’s house I could house all my belongings in a small bedroom. Now a three bedroom house isn’t big enough. Everytime I go to do spring cleaning I get frustrated at all the stuff. I always wonder who needs this much of anything? I have enough books to start my own bookstore. Enough lipstick for all the girls in my county to have a tube and even an over abundance of hair brushes that I don’t use. (I didn’t realize how many hairbrushes I owned until a dear friend who was hanging out with me at my house pointed it out to me.) What is it about us and our stuff? I also read that people hate to part with anything. They emotionally attach to things. The article even said broken things are hard for people to part with. Even something as silly as a broken rubberband trouble people to throw out. Yet, the thought of getting rid of things we own can be difficult. It always brings up the question, what if? What if I need this and I have thrown in out? A friend of mine told me she can’t part with her daughter’s baby clothes. That’s been 10 plus years since her daughter was an infant. Do we feel like if we get rid of something we get rid of the memory or dishonor that time in some way? I still have my wedding dress. Why am I hanging on to that?

I personally hate to borrow things, I am much more about ownership. Yet, looking around my cluttered house I wonder do these things really make me happy? Am I trying to define who I am by owning all this stuff? Over half of the stuff I own I forget that I have. What is this fascination with stuff? Sheryl Crow said in a song once it’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you got. Having so much stuff and having everything cluttered I’ve read takes a toll on you mentally. Everything is always out of place. How many times have you had to stuff things back in the drawer or closet or cabinet? It’s frustrating. In our have it all, never enough mentality society I can’t help but wonder how much is really enough?