Wednesday, February 18. 2015

I have already packed up seven bags of dusty books to give to the public library. Everywhere I go in my apartment, I look for things to clean, things to get rid of, things to donate to anybody but me. I’ve also cleaned out the medicine chest in the big bathroom. And while I know this activity is supposed to last the whole season of Lent, at this rate, I’ll be down to a Tibetan monk’s level of object ownership in no time.

I would put forward that it would not be a bad thing if that happened.

More later.

I’ve got too much stuff.

I’m not a collector or a hoarder and I don’t have to pick my way over things to get to the kitchen or anything, but still, I want to own less stuff. I like to travel – a lot – and I want to travel light.

I read about the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge for Lent last year and it impressed me. I wanted to be that, to do that – but I didn’t. And I’ve got the same stuff now that I had last year that I haven’t used or touched since last year. So, it’s definitely time to move on this and today is the day.

To simplify, because that’s what this is all about after all, the 40 Bag Challenge asks you to take a bag of stuff out of your house every day during Lent. When you don’t have stuff that day, you can organize your finances, clean up your hard drive, consolidate your Flash Drives, whatever gets you to a better feeling of organization and loss of clutter. And I am so ready to do this.

I will be posting my progress here and a couple of other places so I can use you all as my conscience. I want to embrace Easter and the fresh season of spring with less clutter, a smaller carbon footprint, and much better organization in my life so I can find things without having to look in more than one place.

Imagine …

Here’s the original challenge site: http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/40-bags-in-40-days-2014/