Stuff

I don’t want stuff; I have spent the last six months clearing out the large majority of my possessions. I found my stuff was making me miserable. Too much clutter causing me stress. 

It is a strange feeling to realise that the stuff you own is taking up valuable space, living rent free, psychologically and physically.

Making the commitment to convert to a life of minimalism is a long process, getting rid of stuff is only the beginning, I didn’t think six months down the line I would still be battling with wanting stuff.

I figured that if I cleared myself of stuff then the urge to want more would die out. I was wrong. It is currently amplified.

The issue is that when you are living around stuff and blindly buying then the urge is not obvious as it is a perceived normal behaviour. It gets highlighted when you stop purchasing and reduce your possessions.

I still have a problem with buying. The pull to spend with Amazon and ebay is strong. I add stuff to baskets, I research stuff I want, while I am doing this, I fee uneasy. I have even gone ahead with Amazon purchases and then fifteen minutes later cancelled the order.

The consumption of goods is so ingrained with my life that it is like trying to break an addiction. This addiction is socially acceptable and it is part of our everyday lives.

Developing a strategy to cope with this is key to breaking free. Any sentence with the word strategy isn’t great for me as that requires effort. Chucking rubbish out of my house was easy, resisting new shiny things to buy is hard and therefore what I have to do to get over it will be hard.

Plenty of reading online and in books from near cult religious minimalists have provided some answers. The thing with this is not to take it too far. The hardcore minimalists will have you get rid of everything you own, tell you to be happy and never buy anything again.

I have found that the compulsion to buy will most likely mean that you won’t be happy with whatever it is you have attained and you will be buying something else again shortly, subsequently not be happy and repeat. Break the cycle and be happy with what you already have. Use it until it dies. Enjoy it. It is not much different to the new thing you keep wanting.