2livesimple’s Weblog

I continue to use the principles of Peter Walsh as I downsize my life. I am also continuing to try to conduct my own 100 possession challenge.

I originally blogged about this on 5/4/2008.

Here’s the new twist in our trying to eliminate clutter.

We are seriously considering living in a home that is 120 square feet. That’s right, 120 square feet.

Go to www.tumbleweedhouses.com and take a look at the Lusby. This is the one we are seriously considering. I would LOVE to hear from anyone who is living in a home that Jay designed.

You can easily see how I would need to limit my possessions (my wife will have to do the same). I am currently working on a list of all I own. In each category I am doing a quick purge as Peter Walsh describes in his book “It’s All Too Much!”.

I then move on to something else. Then later revisit what I had purged earlier. It seems to me that two things are at work here: 1. Each time you revisit after a previous purge, you are confronted with a smaller task. 2. The break you take between the purges gives you a fresher perspective when you look at it again.

Next, I print out my current list (still don’t have everything on it – I think it would amaze the average person to do this exercise), and then I have my wife go over the list and draw a line through each item she would get rid of. I’m often surprised by what she would get rid of on the list. Sometimes it is liberating as I know she would be okay with me getting rid of something. It may be because I thought she wanted us to keep something. It may be because it is something she gave me, and I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings. Sometimes it simply makes me really think about one possession or another, and other times I simply just think absolutely not. I think it is often those strong responses that speak strongest to me. You would actually have me get rid of the limited edition working replica Bat Signal that you gave me ….. No Way! And there you have it ….. it stays ….. it may not be a practical possession, but it does make me smile. First, I really love the old Batman comics (childhood nostalgia), and second, it was a gift from my wife. The challenge can be – How many of these items do you allow yourself to keep before they become a burden?

That’s my blogging for today – stay tuned – my 100 possession list to follow soon!