Marla Ottenstein, a professional organization who is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, recently wrote an article in the Naples Daily News about her year long experience of purging stuff from her life. More specifically, she committed to get rid of one thing a day for 365 consecutive days. Her original plan changed a bit to allow for more flexibility, but by the end of the year she exceeded the original goal and purged 444 items from her home.
So What?
Yesterday, I preached about learning to let go of greed and embrace a lifestyle of generosity. In my own experience, the more things you have and the more time you spend acquiring and maintaining them the harder it becomes to not long for even more stuff. One good place to begin is by purging stuff you no longer need and rarely or never use. Another good place to begin is to only buy new stuff that replaces old (one item leaves your household for every new item you bring into it).
- Have you ever systematically worked through your home to get rid of (donate, sell, or dispose of) items you no longer need? If so, what was the experience like? If not, would you consider working through each room so that you covered everything in the course of a year as Ottenstein did?
- Do you think the possession, continued drive to acquire, and energy spent on maintaining stuff can contribute to becoming less generous and more greedy or not? Explain.