Acquisitions and Dispositions

I spent several hours cleaning and purging my bedroom closet over the weekend.  Here are some of the cast-off offerings, all bagged up and ready to clutter up Goodwill instead of my closet.  

Since the "purge," I find myself making frequent visits to the closet just to take in the order and liberation of it all.  

Isn't it ironic that both acquiring and disposing of possessions brings such joy and satisfaction?  My father recently told me that he would be happy if all that he owns could be contained in a single suitcase.   I don't know if I could quite say the same at this point in my life, but I do feel so inexplicably pleased when, for example, I can use up the remainders of a bottle of shampoo and throw it away, reducing the total number of bottles taking up space in my shower.  Or throw tupperware container after container of food away to restore orderly emptiness to my refrigerator shelves.  Why is that?  The silly part, of course, is that I buy more clothes, more shampoo and more food, and the cycle begins again. 

My life is one endless round of subtraction and addition, ebbing and flowing, cleaning out and cluttering back, removing and replacing.  Can you relate?

Thoreau (who, as much as I love him, was a bit of a spartan -- the man did write "beware of all enterprises that require new clothes" after all . . . .) had this to say about possessions:

"Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hinderances to the elevation of mankind."  [Walden, "Economy"]

Studies show that acquiring possessions does in fact bring happiness.  But that happiness is fleeting.  We adjust to our things, and they lose their magic.  One interesting finding (that completely meshes with my own personal experience) is that giving our possessions away, on the other hand, brings more lasting joy.

Perhaps the solution is to enjoy something for a short time and then gift it to someone else who will get the same joy and can then gift it along to another?  Or we could periodically swap possessions with each other?  The lovely handbag that I just had to have for the kitchen gadget that called your name and then sat on your counter?

Well, for now, I'm going to enjoy my gutted closet.  But, truth be told, I will enjoy filling it back up again -- even if (apologies to Thoreau) it hinders my "elevation" to some degree.

Post Script:  Isn't this Everything I Have Poster cool?  Doesn't it make you want to throw things out?

Post Post Script:  Some time ago, my sister Becky told me about a great children's book called The Girl Who Wore Too Much.  I would highly recommend it!  How many of us (myself included) are carrying around too many layers?  It's no wonder we can't climb the hill.  Elevation hindered.  Indeed.