Drowning in Stuff

I think that there is one thing that most people can agree on and that is that society evolves over time. Change is continuous and is connected to changing circumstances and demands. One of those things that has definitely been evolving in our society is the number of belongings that one person has. It is a clear indication of how much of a role consumerism plays in our current world.

There is a problem though that arises with the increase in the number of belongings. The more that you have, the more space that you need to keep all of those belongings. Modern houses are built with ever larger closets, even in comparison to houses built in the 1970s and 1980s....yes, I know that is now 40-50 years ago!!

But, what about the houses that are even older? The house that I grew up in may have had only one or two closets when I was very young (it was a farmhouse built in the late 19th century). I remember my parents adding closets during various rounds of renovations. Wardrobes were the thing for storing clothing. When you consider it, those wardrobes were really quite clever pieces of furniture. Adding square footage to a house's footprint is adding cost at a time when people did not have that much money, and the stuff they had, they had to make. And really, if you are adding square footage to store stuff, well, that seems a bit crazy when you are short of funds. But yet, in our current world, that seems to be exactly what people are doing, instead of optimizing the furniture in the room to be functional.

I must confess that I am just as guilty of collecting things as the next person. As I go through my latest move and sort through my belongings to identify storage locations, I am really questioning some of my purchasing decisions (as well as some of my purging decisions before leaving Alberta). My new location is limited in storage space. There will be organizers required for cabinets and closets. But, I am also asking some really hard questions about some of my belongings.

When I left Alberta, I moved into a temporary residence that also had limited storage. I made the decision to select the items that I really needed in the foreseeable future and leave the rest in their boxes and suitcases. Now, I am opening up these items and sorting through them as I determine where I will store them in my new location.

The thing that really needs to be highlighted is that these were items that I clearly did not need in the past 6 months. Now, there are summer specific items, such as shorts, that are among the pieces. Those are clearly a reasonable case (no one is going to need a pair of shorts in -20 C weather, or at least most people wouldn't). But what about my pile of socks?? That clearly needs to be addressed. There can be an argument made about the necessity of wool socks in July versus January, but overall, the question still should be asked.

One of many piles to be sorted

I had a roommate in university of claimed that a large collection of socks and underwear was desirable so as to minimize the frequency of the need to do laundry. So, I suspect my large pile of those items likely started to grow at that point in time. Career demands really start to influence the accumulation of more than just socks and underwear. When long days and long weeks of work reduce the time and energy to do laundry, the wardrobe starts to get filled up with more than just excess socks and underwear.

I also think that the rise of fast fashion in the 1990s and 2000s also had an impact on the increasing number of people with overflowing closets. Clothing became cheap. Media, and then social media, really promoted having the latest fashions and having a large closet full of selection at home. Even if you were not a person who was a clothes hog, subliminally, the idea of having a large closet with a selection takes hold.

And then, there is this other question. How much was purchased just for the sake of purchasing? How much was bought for the sake of buying and not because of need? What items were mindless purchases? This starts to become a bit of a rabbit hole. So, what is the underlying emotion that ends up being expressed as an accumulation of items? Is this another avenue for the expression of stress? What was the emotional driver for the purchase, if it wasn't for practical reasons?

My current question, however, is how to manage all these items. What items do I truly need? What items do I just want? And finally, what do I do with the items that do not make the cut?

I am a fan of donating to those in need. Selling may be an option for those items that are in great condition. I fear that there will be far too many items heading for waste disposal. I just think of the environmental implications for all of this stuff. Not everything can be recycled.

Clearly, it is too easy to accumulate in our current society. While I work through the overwhelming task of sorting and purging, I am now very conscious of the need to change the mindset towards my consumer habits. Going forward, it appears that it will be prudent for me to limit purchases to replacements and not add to the "collection". I think of having a clear concept of what I actually need would also be helpful. Do I need 20 pairs of socks? Or will 8 pairs be sufficient?

I am not a person who loves organizing belongings. This lands in my category of "administrivia", a word coined by a former colleague of mine at Darlington Nuclear. Storage challenges are requiring that I take the time and make the effort to have everything efficiently organized with items that I truly need and will use. I can confirm that this is definitely not my idea of fun!