whitney arlene / blog »

heather - I used to be kind of a packrat while growing up, but when my boyfriend and I moved across the country twice in two years–both times with nothing more than what we could fit in my car–it definitely cured me of that urge. It’s amazing to see how much stuff you really don’t need or ever use. I had so many things I was holding onto solely because I was too lazy to throw them out, or because they were mementos that were supposed to remind me of the good times (even though I never looked at them!), or because I might need them someday.

That said, it’s really tough to stop stuff from building up, even when you do regularly toss stuff. We’ve been living in our current apartment for less than a year, and we already have more furniture than we need (none of which we actually bought–all cast-offs or presents from relatives, or free off of craigslist). And books are definitely my downfall, too. Despite doing a massive purge before I moved the first time, I still have two bookcases full, threatening to spill over onto a third. And I try to be really conscientious about what I buy/keep–I stopped holding onto books from college just because they’d make me look smart when somebody else was looking through my collection (haha), and only kept books that I knew I’d read over and over. And I haven’t bought a book in over a year. (Yay libraries!) I’m trying to figure out how I can trim my collection further . . . (It’s just my luck that the one collection I can’t bear to part with is the heaviest/most pain-in-the-ass kind of collection to move!)

Elizabeth - I believe the previous commenter might be referring to No Impact Man (http://www.noimpactdoc.com/about.php).

Teresa - I admit it, I am a reformed packrat. A few years ago I just decided I needed to streamline. My best organizing tip, which is particularly useful for book savers and organizing newbies, is to box up all of the stuff you think you don’t want but can’t quite commit to getting rid of and then put it in storage for six months (attic or basement–out of sight). If you don’t need anything in the box in six months, get rid of it.

Now I have a pretty good system of going through all the rooms in my house a couple of times a year (I tend to go through a different room every six weeks or so, makes it more manageable than a blitz). I keep everything in the attic in boxes throughout the year and in April when I do my spring cleaning I cart the whole works away for donation. Evey year there is less and less stuff that I am giving away, because I just accumulate less during the year.

Also, I have been thinking about having a clothing swap party. Would you be interested? Light dinner, drinks, everyone brings what they want to get rid of from their closets and we all try it on and people can take home whatever they want.

lisasfoods - Yup, it was “No Impact Man,” which we watched last night. Not quite as inspiring as I thought it would be, but still good. I’m on the search for similar films and books.