I must say hearing about the 100 Thing Challenge... http://www.guynameddave.com/100-thing-challenge.html ...really got my attention. Here is the gist of it:
The goal of the 100 Thing Challenge is to break free from the confining habits of American-style consumerism. A lot of people around the world feel "stuck in stuff." They feel like their closets and garages are too full of things that don't really make their lives much better. But how to get unstuck?
Reduce (get rid of some of your stuff) Refuse (to get more new stuff) Rejigger (your priorities)
When I read Dave's list of his remaining 100 things, I know I wasn't going to streamline my possessions that drastically. I decided to make a little game out of getting rid of stuff...get rid of 100 things in 100 minutes. I set the timer and in about 85 minutes I had purged 135 belongings. The experience was liberating and actually quite emotional. I went through books from decades past and found a long forgotten journal about crisscrossing the country....life in a spiritual community...silent retreats...mime school in Boulder...(no mime jokes!!!) meeting awesome people all along the way.....the teary part was reading an entry about a trip home after a few years away and realizing how many people I went to visit then have since passed away....family and friends....yes, while I was working to make money to buy stuff and then laundering stuff and cleaning stuff and sorting stuff...life marches on. And that brings me back to the Rejigger phase of the 100 Thing Challenge...what are my priorities...and how does managing my "stuff" effect my quality of life and minimize time spend on what I truly value.
And so...I will continue my self imposed challenge....get rid of 1,000 things....i'll give you a window into my journey and invite you to follow along...or better yet...join me!!! only 865 things to go....
