Stuff! How did I get so much stuff?
Ok scratch that. I know how I got so much. I bought it. I get that. Why do I still have so much of it and why to I keep getting more of it?
The answers to these questions really aren’t that hard. I still have so much stuff because there are somethings I am attached to and can’t just get rid of, and the process of trimming down and condensing what I already have is huge and hard work. I keep getting more stuff because there are more things I would like to have, whether I just see their value or media has convinced me that I should have them, and because well, I, like anyone else keep succumbing to marketing.
So what to do about it. That is really the harder question, and the harder thing to put into practice.
The first thing becomes, not acquiring any more stuff. Sounds easier than it is. The minute I decide I’m not going to acquire anything else, there is something cool I want. Either it’s the last one, or it’s hard to find, or I really have a need, or it will make whatever so much better. You know the drill. You’ve been there. Maybe I’ll try what we did when I was a kid. At Christmas time, when we got new toys and clothes and such we had to go into our rooms and find that same number of things that we could get rid of either through donation or a garage sale. This might be worth a try. I just bought a new pair of athletic shoes and have a pair that doesn’t wear right so I’ve put them in the box to go to charity. Well it’s a start.
So now what to do about all the stuff I’ve already acquired. Some of it, there’s just no getting rid of. I won’t get rid of the musical instruments. I just can’t do that again. And I’m going to be hard pressed to get rid of the cds, even though I was dismayed at the rearranging I had to do to get the most recent batch on the shelf. And the books. I’m not sure I’m up to getting rid of most of those yet. Maybe if I can be more discerning in the ones I purchase it will help.
There are a few other things that will help and we’re going to see how far I get with that project. Stay tuned.
In regards to your cd’s, you can do what I did. I installed a second hard drive on my computer and ripped everything to that drive, then packed the cd’s away. Most of my cd’s have only been out of the case one time. This saves wear and tear on them and if anything happens to the file, you can just re-rip it.
That’s pretty much what I intend to do with the CDs. At least once I get everything ripped and the rest of the stuff setup the way I want. I’m hoping to do similar with most of the DVD’s. We’ll see.