I had a garage sale yesterday. I love garage sales.
I’m a big believer that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
After the garage sale, we took all of the stuff that didn’t sell to charity. My husband told me he feels so much lighter now that we got rid of all that stuff. I do too. It’s sort of addicting. Now I want to donate everything and live more simply. It’s amazing how much stuff we got rid of and how much stuff we still have.
Remember when they came out with Real Simple magazine? I do. I remember loving it and wanting to get organized. Then I was introduced to the Container Store. That was exciting!
I LOVE the Container Store. I am obsessed with organizational goodies. I could spend hours there and many, many dollars too!
Yesterday, at the garage sale, my husband saw that I was getting rid of some old toys in a bin from the Container Store. He said, “You’re not giving away the container too are you? The bin costs more than the stuff in it” I realized that the stuff I bought to organize, the stuff I had to have to be organized, had just become more stuff.
I saw Jerry Seinfeld’s stand up show when he came to Chicago and he talked about this. He said whenever he buys something and takes it home, he feels like his doorman is laughing at him thinking, “I’ll see that thing again soon on the way out when he decides he doesn’t need it.”
So now there is an entire industry built around organization. First they convince us we need to buy all the clothes, toys, furniture, rugs, lamps, frames, knick-knacks – now we have been convinced we need to buy more stuff to organize our stuff. We even have to buy a magazine to teach us how to do it. Now I have to save and organize the organizational magazines! It’s ironic, isn’t it?
Spending all of this time buying and organizing and sorting and then finding ways to get rid of things has reminded me of how your possessions can start to own you. They can take your time, your money, and your peace of mind. They can create mind clutter which leaves no space for peaceful reflection. It reminds me of a Bible verse I think is so good for me to remember.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:19-21
I’m going to work really hard to not fill up my new found “space” with stuff. But why do I keep feeling that one more trip to the container store might help me with my daughter’s closet?