Rethinking What You Own

For this week's blog post, we're going to look at a more interesting article than last week.  It's actually an article talking about another article, but when I looked at the other (as linked from the first) it was long, boring, and not quite about the same topic, so after skimming for a bit, I decided my time would be better spent sorting my bead collection.

Anyway, this article is Viridian Design and Rethinking Our Relationship with 'Stuff' by Marc Gunther.


The article starts out by explaining that what we should be doing is looking to optimize the things that we own.  Instead of just having the bed/mattress that you've had forever, you should have a really nice bed/mattress because it's something that you use--something that you cannot get around using.   The same argument is used for computer chairs, although, as one sitting on a footlocker in perfect comfort, I'd hesitantly argue that a more expensive chair might be unnecessary.

But over all the idea of buying quality things is an idea that I can get behind.  I live somewhat between having far too much and have the bare minimum, because I spent a lot of time moving back and forth across the country, and I could only bring with me what would fit in my car, so every time I was back at my parent's house for a season I'd fill another 18-gallon tub with things and tuck it into the attic.  Eventually I got down to the point where I could fit my pet rabbit in the car (cage and all) and then from there I was almost back down to the point of fitting a passenger (if I wanted one and they had no legs) when I finally stopped running moving across the country.

The things that I kept with me were generally the things that I used every day, like water-bottles, flashlights and bandanas, but it was also a selection of things that seemed a bit superfluous like card games, movies and wall decorations, because I'd learned the first time I left home that if I didn't have those things I would buy them.

Even still there were things that I knew I didn't need. For example, I had five water bottles (and a thermos), and also...five flashlights, a headlamp and possibly a book-light, too. And I was working in places with electricity. I easily could have left many of those things behind and been just as happy with my life--perhaps more so because it would have been easier when it was time to pack up.

I did do my best to make sure that those things I kept around me were of the highest quality if I could. I spent a long time picking out a head-lamp, and by the end all my water bottles were SIGG bottles, which are awesome (if a bit easy to dent). Maybe I didn't need five water bottles, but at least I knew that whichever one I was using wouldn't break down mid-trail (as I've seen happen). So I support spending the extra money on things that are safer, or more durable. Because it makes sense to have a pair of hiking boots that are optimized for your balance, or a computer mouse that doesn't randomly track across the screen or click on the wrong thing; these are the things that you use.

The article then goes on to recommend you carry a multi-tool like a Swiss army knife (object 040, check!), because there are many things you can do with one and people start to view you as a capable person.  I don't know. I've carried a pocket knife for years, and it hasn't helped much. I'm fairly certain that the miniature pair of scissors I had clipped to my belt along with a pen got me a reputation for being 'useful' much faster and sooner than the knife. Actually, it was just the pen. So my advice: always carry a pen somewhere you can easily locate it (lost in the bottom of your purse is not ideal).

So aside from object 040, what should I be keeping with me (and is the one-legged ninja attached to it acceptable?):

"You will need to divide your current possessions into four major categories.

1. Beautiful things.
2. Emotionally important things.
3. Tools, devices, and appliances that efficiently perform a useful function.
4. Everything else."

(which is me quoting the guy quoting the original article, how classy)


And then, after you've put everything into those categories, you need to get rid of them all.  Except the 'tools' which you should make sure are of a high quality before keeping them.


Actually, that's not quite true.  You should tag and inventory 'everything else,' any of the 'beautiful things' that you don't show to every guest ever, and most of the 'emotionally important' things, then toss all of it into the attic and play with the echo left in your now-empty house.


I don't know. My main impression here is that this guy doesn't have a hobby. I mean, maybe he reads or does computer design or plays chess or something, but are my crafting supplies a tool? they don't really help me fix or maintain anything--certainly not anything 'useful'. Of course, I think my beads are damn pretty, and I DO show them off to people who seem at all interested, but I'm not sure that's quite what he means by 'beautiful object'. Or what about my wallet? I use that every day, but when I'm categorizing my 'tools' the wallet would never make the list.


But perhaps he just meant 'useful objects' in which case...okay, I can keep my beads, and maybe even my origami paper. Certainly my wallet could stick around.


Then again, if I'm allowed to keep useful objects, but I'm supposed to remove 'emotionally important things' does that imply that something can't be BOTH? What if it's important to me, beautiful, and slightly useful but not something that I've used recently? like...the engraved knife I've got? or some of those water bottles I have? Does it stay out of the attic because it's useful? or does it go in because it fits the three other categories a little too well? Or is there some sort of "occasionally useful" category that they go in where I...put them in accessible storage with my other camping/hiking gear?


Or wait, here's another difficult question; my dad like to keep the boxes things came in, but since those are 'useful' (if you ever want to return something) then is this article saying it's okay to have a pile of empty boxes stretching to the ceiling? Or do those become 'everything else' after the warranty runs out? Or what about newspapers and magazines? those are useful for learning about stuff, but they are also a big problem for hoarders (or so I assume).


In conclusion, I see what this guy is getting at, and I suppose there's a bit for everyone to gain from assessing the things that you own and their use relative to their habitation in your life  But unless you're a legitimate hoarder with stuff piled knee-deep on the floor of every room, I wouldn't worry too much beyond making sure that the things you use every day are the highest quality version of those things that you can have.