by Ann Bibby
A year ago my fiancé and I were attempting to pack my entire adult life plus my four year old daughter’s life’s accumulations into a 6 by 12 foot U-haul for our move from the Midwest to Alberta, Canada. For a solid month leading up to June 10, 2007, I sorted, purged and packed. The intake staff at the Goodwill knew me on sight and my niece was able to furnish her first post college apartment without ever setting foot in a store.
And despite the purging, I still own at this moment well more than 100 personal items. My daughter’s Barbie paraphernalia alone dwarfs my measly stash of stuff. Which leads me to wonder, could I pare down my life to a mere 100 possessions?
Could you? An article in this week’s Time recounts the efforts of one blogger who is chronicling his efforts to lighten his thing load and live a minimalist lifestyle. Dave has pared down to 97 articles so far. Among the keepers is one tie, three pairs of jeans and five dress shirts. He even eats with a single spork.
While discussing this my step-daughter wondered if her CD collection was one collection or would each disc count as a single item? Minimalism is in the eye of the beholder I would think, but it speaks loudly of our consumer driven ways when discussions about our things turn towards the need to rid ourselves of them.
From a personal perspective, my husband and I are in the midst of renovation and the accompanying overhaul of possessions that the combining of two adult lives come together in middle-age brings. Even a year later there is much that can still be packed up and given away because we believe that if we aren’t using it someone who needs it should have it.
The question still remains however. Can a person get by in our culture with just 100 personal items? An interesting thing to ponder during the next jaunt through Target, don’t you think?
