Discardia

[morsla]

Today ends the current season of Discardia. As I've been having increasing trouble finding anything around my painting desk, I figured it was a good excuse to start clearing things out... piles of paperwork were the first to go, followed quickly by all the empty boxes that I'll probably need to put things into next week.

What is it? It's a holiday, of sorts. Last time I wrote about it, I tried to clear away all sorts of things, from all corners of my life. Sometimes I succeeded. Most of the time, I ended up creating a different set of piles'o'junk. Fortunately, the site that started it all has a few tips for more efficiently getting rid of things...

---

There are two main reasons for ending up with a bunch of things you don't really want or need: entropy and guilt. You know how the entropy ones happen; they just pile up, usually literally. Magazines & newspapers, clothes with missing buttons, mail to read, half-finished projects, obsolete computer parts...

The problem is not that you don't know how to get rid of these things - you know how trash, recycling and the Goodwill donation box work - it's making yourself get around to it. Rather than giving yourself a hard time for it, your first Discardian act should be to let go of feeling bad about what you haven't gotten done by now. You were doing something else; it was a choice; you're a big kid; it's okay.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm not going to tell you to get cracking and clean the house. If you didn't wanna before you probably don't wanna now. No, what I'm suggesting is that you take a few small steps to achieve two things: slow down your accumulation of this stuff and make it easier for you to get rid of it in future.

Pick a room in your home (or an area of a room, such as your desk) and look at it with fresh eyes. Don't pick the area that depresses you most; be nice to yourself and start with something around the middle of your list of annoyances. Now ask yourself some questions about what you see.

* Is there a category of stuff that is cluttering up your space and which you want to be rid of?
* Where does this category of stuff come from?
* Where should this category of stuff go?

...

The last type of object-related guilt I want you to consider is what I term Dream Duty. This is associated with objects you keep because they represent someone you want (or wanted) to become. If I don't get rid of this guitar/skateboard/ballroom dress, I will eventually get around to using it proficiently, even though I don't practice. Folks, ya gotta shit or get off the pot. Start making time to work on that dream or let it go. If you want to fit into those pants again, eat less & exercise or get a pair like them in the size you are now.

Whatever the reason for having objects you don't want or need crowding your life, one of the best gifts you can give yourself is the ability to let things go. Put your energy where it counts: in making your dreams real and in living a less stressful life. There is one more question to ask:
What could you be doing or feeling if all this stuff wasn't in the way?

---

This time, I started small. Our two bedrooms often get crowded with things that I don't really need any more, so I started there. So far I've taken out three bags of recycling (paper, cardboard and plastic), and packed an unused bag full of clothes I don't need any more. That'll go to the Op Shop, when I head out next.

I'd like to at least reach a point where the rate of accumulation equals the rate of discarding. My house is small, and already overfull. aeliel may have awe-inspiring skills at 3D-Tetris (you should see how much stuff has been packed under the stairs!), but I don't want to risk having the house burst at the seams. Once I get the hang of finding new homes for my belongings, I'll see if I can make some progress on owning less stuff, for greater peace of mind...

If you're interested, there's a Discardia calender at http://aigeek.com/discardia/ - the next phase runs from March 20 - April 17. It's a good holiday to celebrate, because it happens so frequently :)

Comments

[melbournian.livejournal.com]

Wow, I've celebrated Discardia and even followed the guide for old tshirts (http://flickr.com/photos/78959240@N00/sets/72157594480576616/) without even realising it!

[aeduna.livejournal.com]

I ended up cleaning around my desk last night, midpower outage... but only because I couldn't think of anything else to do without electricity.

[hespa.livejournal.com]

**hugs**

I'm glad to see you're celebrating Discardia - I keep planning to, but never seem to get the time... {:=8/

Thanks for pointing out the tips on the site - I hadn't seen those before. Well worth a read. Bring at my parents' house has really brought home to me how messy my own place is by comparison. I'm guilty of accumulation by both entropy *and* guilt - I definitely need to take a few days (or a week) to celebrate Discardia for myself.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I only got around to clearing things out right on the very last day... I'd intended to start earlier, but never quite managed it.

It's amazing what a bit of perspective can do. My old bedroom at my parents' place has been turned into a guest room, and it's abolutely spartan compared with my room in North Melbourne. Spending too much time there seems to be a quick way to madness, but it's good in small doses - answering that hypothetical "what would the house look like if I got rid of all this stuff?" question...

[hespa.livejournal.com]

**nodnods** I'm hoping the effect of living with my parents for a month and a half (rather than the usual few days) will last at least long enough for me to get home into some kind of better shape - and maybe ever *gasp* develop some habits to help keep it that way. My latest resolution is to deal with/put away. stuff that accumulates on my bed during the day *before* I settle down to read/watch TV/play games for an evening, rather than leaving it until I'm tired and want to go to bed and then just dumping it all on the chair/floor.

Though I suspect the chances of my hopes coming to pass will have a lot to do with the commencement date of my course this year, which I have yet to ascertain...