Does Your Stuff Own You? (post by Kirk Weisler)

“If you possess something but you can’t give it away, then you don’t possess it… it possesses you.” —Frank Sinatra

Do you own stuff or does it own you?  What would you do, what could you do if everything you owned fit in a backpack?

I am reading 3 books right now…all about decluttering, simplifying, and minimalst living.  A few things have inspired me to read in this direction.  First and foremost my wife Rebecca who is a “chucker” who is anti-clutter and loves simplicity.  Next is the story of Ian Usher who sold everything he owned on e-bay… including the URL to his website that said he was selling everything he owned on E-bay.  http://www.ianusher.com/  And the story of Betsy and Warren Talbot a couple who wrote the book Dream, Save, Do about how they put together a plan to sell everything and live out their dreams with backpacks and passports.   http://www.marriedwithluggage.com/our-story/

Am I going to live out of a backpack?  No – but could I live with less stuff?  YES.  Rebecca and I just sold our beautiful home in Atlanta.  We are ready for a new adventure in a new city.   And as we began talking about where that might be – we also naturally began talking about what type of home we wanted to live in.  With Brittany going off to college and Jake soon to follow we knew we no longer needed or wanted a home with 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 5 acres and all the upkeep that comes with it.  (Though I will miss my garden, bees and chickens).   In fact Rebecca said, she would like to dramatically simplify….with a focus on more experiences and far less stuff.

When I walked through the house asking myself what is in that I really just had to have… the answer was “not much”… certainly not as much as it holds.  I could even let go of most of the books (maybe) 

I don’t think we will be able to reduce it down to a couple of back packs like the Talbots…but what if we could?   Someone wise once said, “There is genius in simplicity”.  What do you need to remove from your life to find simplicity and uncover so you can recover your genius?

Kirk Out