100 Thing Challenge
"Stuff starts to overwhelm you," says Dave Bruno, 37, an online entrepreneur who looked around his San Diego home one day last summer and realized how much his family's belongings were weighing him down. Thus began what he calls the 100 Thing Challenge. (Apparently, Bruno is so averse to excess he can't refer to 100 things in the plural.) Bruno's online musings about his slow and steady purge have developed something of a cult following online, inspiring others to launch their own countdown to clutter-free living.
Well, I passed the time in a boring meeting by starting a list, topped my by ipod and Garmin405, but as I got farther down the list, I realized it was just stuff - all replaceable for a bit of cash, and I quit the list.
Then started the "what do I take from burning building?" list - kid's photos, some family jewelry, an old diary. OK , a favorite bathrobe maybe. But that's it - really. As long as the family and pets are safe, I'm fine and that realization was like a breath of fresh air.
So a bit of cheat. I've avoided throwing away any of the stuff or even really examining how much of it I'd need to replace to maintain my consumptive lifestyle. But I know now its just that - stuff.
Well, I passed the time in a boring meeting by starting a list, topped my by ipod and Garmin405, but as I got farther down the list, I realized it was just stuff - all replaceable for a bit of cash, and I quit the list.
Then started the "what do I take from burning building?" list - kid's photos, some family jewelry, an old diary. OK , a favorite bathrobe maybe. But that's it - really. As long as the family and pets are safe, I'm fine and that realization was like a breath of fresh air.
So a bit of cheat. I've avoided throwing away any of the stuff or even really examining how much of it I'd need to replace to maintain my consumptive lifestyle. But I know now its just that - stuff.
4 comments:
I would really struggle to be forced to get rid of my stuff....you never know what you are going to need
then I think about heritage and how we find out the intricate lives of the past through what they left behind.
What if I left nothing behind? Perhaps there would then be no memory of me.
UUgh! I'd hate it if I died now... all the stuff that someone would have to go through.
Thats inspiration to get a handle on it. Hmm what should I make sure I throw away to improve the memory?? I'd better get some glam photos taken!
Hey, Thanks for stopping by my blog. Because it led me to your great blog. Keep up the great posts.
So are you going to take the challenge? I don't think I could get down to 100 items. But I guess the fact is I'm materialistic and like a lot of my stuff. I am however trying to get rid of stuff that I don't love. If I get rid of it, I increase my good to bad stuff ratio. I blogged about my "exfoliation" at http://lazybonesrunning.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-weeks-exfoliation.html
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