727?
The main reason that this number seems so ridiculous to me is because of the compartmentalization of my life. Almost all of my personal belongings fit within a room that is roughly 14' wide, 16' long, and 12' high (keep in mind that I also share this room with another person). Somethings are within plain sight, such as my books, and others are hidden away, such as my clothing. The practice of storing things, or even subconsciously hiding them, has multiple layers. Perhaps I would not like to remind myself of the true amount of things that I have; on the other hand, it is somewhat comforting to know that I am surrounded by things, which turn a barren, empty room, into a place that is lived in. A place that feels like it is my home, despite the fact that I know I will not stay there.
Thus I had somewhat of a hard time grappling with my stuff. I generally thought of myself as having relatively few possessions. Most of all, I generally thought of myself as having very few clothes. I was amazed to find out that actually I owned around 180 items of clothing, from 43 pairs of socks, to 80 different shirts (button up, t-shirt, and everything in between). As someone who lives with a fashion designer with limitless amounts of clothes and materials, I naively thought that I, personally, couldn't possibly own 180 different clothing items.
Yet during my counting process, I only rid myself of 20 or so items, all of which were clothing.
Why is that?
Well, it's mostly because those 20 items were the ones that I absolutely did not use. The rest of my 160 items I use quite a bit. Or at least, I think I use quite a bit.
With the exception of my 2 suits, a few pairs of pants, and my coats during the summer, I can say that I wear around half of my clothing items at least once a month. The other half makes an appearance every other month. I don't consider myself to be fashionable (I usually wear the same pair of pants until they are worn to the point of no return), however, I do like to mix it up a bit. So, I can either try to justify the fact that I now have 160 items of clothing, or I can realize that I can still get rid of a great deal of my "standing stock." I think it's about time to get rid of some more clothing. I mean, honestly, a good deal of my clothes have been in my possession for 4 to 6 years, some even longer. And it is those items that I have the hardest time parting with.
It is strange the amount of guilt I feel when I try to get rid of my stuff. One item may have been given to me as a present, and even though the person who gave it to me may be out of my life completely, I still feel as though I would be hurting their feelings if I got rid of it. That is totally ridiculous. What is it about gifts that makes me feel like their value is higher because they were given to me? Sure, some things I could never part with, but holding on to things for the reason that they were given to me is outright ludicrous.
Keep in mind that out of 727 items, 250 are individual comic books. That's around 33%. I could most certainly part with at least half of them; the largest problem I have with getting rid of them is dealing with the fact that I have already sunk my money into the purchases, and would at least like to get some cash back. Finding the time to do so, on the other hand, is another story.
Clothing and entertainment by far outweigh the rest of the categories of my personal belongings. And as you can see in the spreadsheet, I counted the comic books as entertainment.
The things I value the most, however, tend to be things that are somewhat transient. These include my toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash in the hygiene category, artwork, and my computer, ipod, and headphones, in the electronics category. They are also they things I use the most. If I could not use my toothbrush, I would go insane.
I also realized that I share almost as many items as I own (613). That was not as much of a surprise to me. In general, my 3 roommates and I share without discretion, with the exception of a few personal items. I grew up in a household in which we would have any number of guests either staying or living with us at any time. This conditioned me to the fact that sharing, as they say, is caring.
Below is a link to some graphics I have created that illustrate my belongings, both personal and shared, in terms of their usage, value, and need for. It also illustrates my belongings by quantity and category.
As you can see, the three categories don't always match up. Some of the thing I own I use infrequently but place a high value on. Others I need to have, yet place little value upon.
For instance, I have been socially conditioned by my mom to value my books above most of my other possessions. My mom literally has a library, thousands of books, all of which she has read, most more than once. I therefore place high value on my books, but use them rarely, and have little need for after the first read. Some I can return to more than once, but most would ultimately be better off in another person's hands.
Among the things that I share, I place a high value on appliances, artwork, and plants (the two of which are under misc. category in the above album). These appliances, with the exception of a blender, a crockpot, and a one touch chopper, are not personally owned by anyone in my household. Yet they play a significant part in my weekly/daily life. Although the fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer, dryer, and toaster oven are inanimate objects, I consider them to be my friends. They put in more work for my personal gain than I do myself. I value them, use them frequently, and need (most) of them. I feel that having laundry within my apartment, however, is a little selfish and wasteful. Though I do not use them with my hands, the plants and artwork in the apartment provide more comfort to me than most of my belongings. I feel as though they commit services to everyone in the apartment.
Looking at minimalists websites has been somewhat discouraging to me. The fact that some people can live with only 100 (or even 50) personal items only, seems to me both inspiring and impossible. I would have to put most of my things in storage and travel the country with only a backpack with my things inside, and perhaps a bike, to reduce my standing stock to that sort of level.
But ultimately, the point of this exercise is to not have to go to one extreme or the other. The point is to realize that ultimately everything I do, consume, own, and throw away has an effect upon the place that I live (or don't), and the person I am.
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