I Might Have Too Much Stuff

So I spent most of yesterday tidying up my room, vacuuming, dusting, etc. I always feel uneasy when my room is a mess, and since I have a dust allergy then I have to dust and vacuum pretty regularly. And I really wanted to get some writing done, but when my room is a mess then I can't get anything to come out. So yesterday I cleaned and it all looked great.

I woke up this morning and my room was a mess again. I swear, there's a goblin that haunts my room and as soon as I clean up, it comes out while I sleep and messes everything up again. It's a nightmare.

But honestly, it's because I have too much stuff and not enough places to put things. It's been like this forever. Since before I can remember. The biggest problem is I get attached to things. This picture has a memory, I will read this book someday, I'll need this thing-a-ma-jig in the future, etc. And with the limited amount of space I have right now, I just can't keep everything.

So today (Sunday) before and after church I'm going to be working on getting rid of stuff. Because until I have a tidy room, I'm not going to be able to get anything productive done. And that's the truth.

As always, thanks for reading!

Minimalism and Dejunking

For the last couple of years or so, I've had this idea in my head of becoming minimalist. I guess just the idea seems kind of romantic to me; only owning the things I need or that have real value, the ability to pack everything up and move at the drop of a hat, never having to worry about an excess of stuff, etc. It kind of goes along with my rather unrealistic dream of living a nomadic life, roaming around the world with only a suitcase and a backpack. See, totally unrealistic, though nice to daydream about.

Unfortunately, as much as I have wanted this, I'm a collector. I collect books, mugs, maps, posters, stuffed animals, clothes, kitchen supplies, even food. Everything seems to collect in my room, no matter what I try. It's like my brain can't stand empty or unfilled space so I unconsciously buy things to fill those spaces.

This is a big problem, because my dorm room, which was small to begin with, has now become cramped and so full of things I don't use it's almost suffocating. And on top of that, this tends to cost a bundle of money because I'm buying things willy nilly.

Something has to be done.

So this coming week, which is a short work week and a long off week, I'm going to focus my attention on getting rid of as many things as I can. I'm going to do it one drawer at a time, one shelf at a time. If I haven't used it, don't need it, don't like it, or can make due without it, it's going into a bag and being taken to the local thrift shop before I can change my mind.

My ultimate goal is to be able to pack and carry most of my things in two suitcases and a backpack. Except for my books, of course, because I'm making that exception, and my desktop computer, because it will never fit anyway.

In order to keep myself motivated and on track, I will be taking before and after pictures of everything and at the end of the week I'll have a nice big blog post to document how I did. So. Here's to a week of casting off the unneeded load and to becoming that much closer to being minimalist!

Tell me, have you had any experiences with minimalism or dejunking? Tell me one method you used to let go of your things.

Thanks for reading!