Too Much Stuff: The Relief and Release of Paring Down

The poet William Wordsworth once cautioned: “The world is too much with us, late and soon; Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers…”

With the American economy now sinking deeper into recession, many people suddenly realize they have spent too much money on too many things. They are feeling the need to (1) cut back on cash outlays and (2) downsize their lives, to help ease some of the pain of higher energy and food costs.

Often, the world really is too much with us. We Americans tend to have too much stuff under our roofs. We fill up our houses and garages with things, and then we have to rent storage spaces when we suddenly inherit more things from deceased relatives.

Lately, I have been very deliberately paring down my belongings. I have donated items to charity; recycled items; dispersed items to family members and friends; sold items online; and tossed items into the trash only as a last resort.

As more unneeded things leave and more space opens up in my house, I feel a rising sense of relief and release.

Yet we cannot be only givers-away and sellers, especially now. Our economy needs us to still be buyers, as well, to help it recover from its current downturn and doldrums.

I am doing my part by not letting all of my newly emptied areas stay empty for long. A used book here, a new hobby item there, one or two new CDs, and maybe another movie on DVD. They don't take up much of the liberated space. Yet they do provide welcome changes and new pleasures at low cost.

You might consider that strategy, too. Pare down a bit; add a bit. Subtract much more than you add, of course. But don't cut too deeply. And don't just grab up all of your unwanted objects and impatiently throw them away. Make the effort to sort them out and determine the best ways to disperse them.

Somewhere, somebody may want and truly need some of the things that have become merely tiresome clutter in your life.

Help keep spreading the wealth in our magnificent--and temporarily weary--economy. Donate, give away, sell, or recycle. Make the landfill your last resort for lightening up your life.

Si Dunn is co-author of The Everything Online Auctions Book published by Adams Media.
#