I Have Too Much Stuff

Color Studies by Sarah Cwynar 

     I have a confession to make: I have way too much stuff. Every time I come home I look at all the extra stuff I left in my room at my parents house. I didn't take it with me to college because I obviously don't need it, yet here it is, still in my possession. Why do I have these things? No reason, other than I just haven't gotten rid of them yet. 

     If you are a normal human being, especially if you're American and participate in our materialistic culture, you probably know what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure everybody know has a similarly large accumulation of things they really don't need or use. 

     Everybody just has way too much stuff! I can't speak for everyone else, but this clutter is driving me crazy. I seriously don't need about 75% of the stuff in my possession, and I'm so done with keeping it around me. So, I've decided to embark on a little experiment , so to speak:

I've decided to get rid of 75% of my stuff. 

     Yep, you read that correctly. Now, I do want to clarify that when I say 75%, I'm giving myself a little leeway on this. For one thing, it'll be hard to calculate the exact percentage of stuff I'm getting rid of.  Also I think I do use slightly more than 25% of my stuff, so if this turns out to be the case, I'll allow myself to keep the things I use. That being said, I'm going to have a long process ahead of me. My plan of attack looks like this:

1. First, I'm going to count all the material things in my possession. Yes, this is going to take a while. But it will be worth it so that I can get accurate data! 

2. After counting up all my possessions, I'm going to calculate the exact number of things I need to get rid of in order to get rid of 75% of my stuff. 

3. Next, I'm actually going to get rid of all that stuff! I'm thinking of having a garage sale that might benefit the Food and Water Watch. That would be nice :)

4. After getting rid of all that stuff, I'll be free to organize what's left, enjoy all the freed-up space, and just breathe. How nice. 

This is not my photo!

     Besides just wanting to free myself from the ridiculous amount of stuff  I have, I'm using this opportunity as an experiment to see just how much of my stuff I really use and need. I'd love to have data on other people too, because I'm really curious as to how important our stuff really is. Material culture emphasizes stuff to a point that it's importance is really overblown. I'm using this experiment as an opportunity to see how I've been programmed by our material culture and see if/how I can undo that programming. I think that eliminating a lot of it from my life will really simplify things for me. If any of you feel the same way and want to perform a similar experiment, I'd love to hear about your experiences!