Less is More, More or Less

You got stuff? I got stuff too. I got too much stuff, in fact. And I've even gotten rid of a whole bunch of stuff. Seems that stuff just accumulates around us, whether we want it to or not. Periodically I have to go through the house and start getting rid of all of the stuff so that it doesn't overwhelm us. All of which begs the question, Why? Why do we keep accumulating it? Why do we go after it? Why do we strive and work just to get all of this stuff that later we'll end up getting rid of once we've decided that we no longer want it. Americans are great getters of stuff. We pack our houses with it. Pack our garages and attics and basements. When those are full, we go rent space and pack that full too. It seems we just can't get enough stuff. And my pointing finger is aimed squarely at myself. Even if my car would fit into the garage (my garage is too low to get my car into) I couldn't do it because the garage is full of stuff. Seriously. And I'm becoming more and more bemused at this obsession we - as a people - have with the accumulation of things. Why do we do it? What do we get out of it? How do we stop it? Is there a better way to live?

We've all heard stories of people who are obsessive collectors of junk. I think they even have a TV show about it. They keep dragging stuff home until their home is so full of stuff that they can't move around in the house any longer. The most infamous case of collecting was that of the Homer and Langley Collyer. The Columbia-educated sons of a well-to-do gynecologist, they lived together after their parents' death in their family's brownstone in NYC. Homer was both blind and bedridden with crippling arthritis, and he depended entirely on Langley. Too bad for him. Langley went out every night and drug home tons of junk, which he completely filled up their four-story house with. He even placed booby traps to keep people from stealing his precious junk. One day, while crawling through a tunnel in in the detritus, Langley triggered one of his own traps and was crushed by tons of his own stuff. Homer, unable to see or move, slowly starved to death. When people complained of the smell, police arrived on the scene but couldn't get into the building, because Langley had barricaded the door. When the finally got inside, they were stunned. The junk was piled up to the ceilings. They found Homer in his chair. They didn't find Langley for almost two weeks. He was only ten feet away from Homer. In the end, police removed almost 100 tons of stuff - most of it utterly worthless - from their house.

Of course, I'm not that bad. No where near, in fact. But, I find, as I grow older, that I'm leaning more and more towards minimalism when it comes to living. Throw out all of the unnecessary stuff. Go for more open space. More light. Less clutter. If I could work from home, that would be even better. I could get rid of one of the cars. Then I'd have even less stuff. I've pondered for several years on how to trim down my wardrobe. What's the absolute minimum amount of clothing you need in order to live in this modern world. I modelled it on my military uniform allotment. I had four pair of dress pants, four pair of work pants, three long-sleeve dress shirt, three short sleeve dress shirts, four work shirts, seven sets of underwear, one suit coat, one work coat, one overcoat, two hats, one pair of gloves. two pair of shoes and one pair of boots. All of it fit into one duffel bag, with room to spare. To that, I added one cardigan and one casual jacket. That amount of clothing served me for four years. For work, I needed no more than that. Now, I have a closet stuffed full of clothes. Why? Cuz I like them. Do I need them, though? Absolutely not. Am I ready to dump all that I don't need and go for the bare necessity? Not quite yet. But I have looked it over and tried to figure out how much I can fit into my large duffel bag. It's a good thing to know if you ever have to get out of the house in a hurry.

I have heard of people who sell most of their possessions and live on with just the barest necessity. And I have known people who were happy as clams living with nothing more than they could pack in their car. I'm not one of them. I like a certain amount of stuff in my life. Still, there's balance, isn't there? Just as you can become obsessive about obtaining, you can also become obsessive about eliminating. You can get rid of so much that you end up with nothing. Life is not meant to be lived like a monk in a cheerless cell. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and we are meant to be happy. Yeah, I'd love my home to look like one of those spartan mid-century modern masterpieces, but I'm not ready yet to give up all of my books or my radio collection. But I'm sure I've got some shirts in that closet that I don't really need. Maybe a pair of pants or three that no longer fit. But I'm not giving up my old, brown, turtle-neck sweater for anything. After all, there's minimal and there's naked!