496 Things in 31 Days: A Possession Purge
For some time I've been following a couple of guys and their
website. The Minimalists www.theminimalists.com, to put it simply, promote living with less to live
more, an idea that seems almost un-American in today’s society. Fortunately, an
increasing number of people are realizing that less can truly be more.
On March 1st they posted a challenge to their
readers to get rid of things in their lives. It didn't matter how (whether
trash, recycling, donations, etc.), it just mattered to get rid of things that
were weighing you down. The caveat to this was how to go about getting rid of
things. On March 1st it was 1 thing. On March 2nd it was
two things. You get the idea, so that by March 31st you would get
rid of 31 things on that day. In total you would get rid of 496 things in 31
days.
I found this challenge intriguing to say the least. I've
always thought that I had so little compared to others, a fact I took pride in.
I was a little concerned that I had dropped a significant amount of stuff at DI
(the Utah equivalent of Goodwill) just the week prior, and initially I thought
that would negatively impact my ability to get rid of close to 500 things in 31
days. (Spoiler alert: it didn't).
Living in a national park makes any living situation
different. I live in a 15’ x 15’ dorm room with small attached closet/dressing
area and a much coveted private bathroom. As I began to go through my things,
it shocked me. I had way more than I thought I did. I kept questioning why I
had initially thought keeping something would be a good idea or why I even got
it in the first place. During the process I felt like such a hypocrite. I
thought I lived simply, but I really didn’t.
With the project I was rather ambitious, and finished on
March 22nd. Every day I looked forward to spending some time getting
rid of things. Moreover, some things that I still valued at the beginning of
the month I did not value the same by the end of the month. Moreover, there
were several times I had to get creative with what I was getting rid of, like
with the emails. Even though they are intangible, holding on to them for no good
reason was just as much a burden as something physical.
On day 2, I began keeping a list of everything I got rid of
for this project.
March 1st
● 1 bag of recycling
March 2nd
● 1 bag of plastic bags ● 1 non-BPA free Camelbak
waterbottle
March 3rd
● 1 empty metal Carmex container ● 1 nearly empty Tommy
Bahama perfume I stopped using ● 1 thing I absolutely cannot remember
March 4th
● 2 Shape magazines
● 1 empty plastic container ● 1 crappy pedometer
March 5th
● 2 necklace chains ● 2 dish towels ● 1 spatula
March 6th
● 2 necklaces ● 2 pairs of pants ● 2 blouses
March 7th
● 1 hideous matted picture of Zion ● 1 miniature whisk ● 1
knife sharpener ● 4 knives
March 8th
● 2 books ● 1 lavender sachet that no longer smells ● 1
black camisole ● 1 package of chopsticks from Hong Kong ● 1 pair of old glasses
● 1 glasses case
March 9th
● 1 HP computer media player remote for my old laptop ● 1
Old Navy jean jacket ● 6 crappy plastic hangars ● 1 used battery
March 10th
● 1 mostly empty bottle of red puffy paint ● 5 old Aleve
pills ● 1 stretched out hair elastic ● 1 old eyeglass lens cleaning cloth ● 1
old pair of glasses with clip-on sunglasses ● 1 empty shampoo bottle
March 11th
● 1 old foot powder I never used ● 1 bottle of expired
allergy medicine from Target ● 1 shoe box liner ● 4 formally white tank tops ●
3 exfoliating bath gloves ● 1 St. George area coupon book
March 12th
● 12 crappy panty liners
March 13th
● 2 turquoise hair clips ● 1 Self magazine ● 2 seasons of Psych
on DVD ● 1 yoga mat holder ● 1 eyeglass case ● 1 cracked and failing Saturn windshield
screen ● 1 old laundry bag ● 1 copy of The
Lord of the Rings trilogy ● 1 pair of glasses ● 2 pairs of black Gap
trousers
March 14th
● 2 pairs of jeans ● 2 soda bottle caps ● 2 plastic plates ●
1 plastic bowl ● 1 plastic toothbrush holder ● 1 empty Cheerwine glass soda
bottle ● 2 purple plastic pocket-sized combs ● 1 big bag of shredding ● 1
Velvet & Vine blood orange and hibiscus body butter ● 1 empty Altoids
container
March 15th
● 1 obsolete bent key ● 1 Michael Graves computer bag ● 1
Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer ● 1 less than accurate tire pressure gauge
● 1 envelope of St. George area coupons ● 1 Christmas card ● 1 map of France
& the Benelux countries ● 1 wine cork ● 1 plastic allegedly unbreakable
comb ● 1 Walgreens March 2014 coupon book ● 1 Walgreens vitamin supplement booklet
● 4 Zions Bank deposit slips
March 16th
● 8 Zions Bank deposit slips ● 1 expired AAA membership card
● 1 Women’s Health magazine ● 1
envelope of shredding ● 1 2012 work ID ● 4 books
March 17th
● 4 books ● 2 People
magazines ● 4 PETA stickers ● 2 Protect Zion stickers ● 1 3M bubble mailer ● 1
2013 health insurance open enrollment brochure ● 1 metal tin ● 2 expire coupons
March 18th
● 2 expired coupons ● 1 Wells Fargo 401K re-enrollment
letter ● 1 Happy 30th Birthday card I forgot to give 2 different
people ● 1 Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance newsletter ● 1 wedding announcement
for a wedding I didn’t attend ● 1 Minnesota DMV vehicle registration renewal
letter ● 1 Wells Fargo 401K booklet ● 1 plastic sheet protector ● 2 Wells Fargo
ATM cards ● 1 Walgreens Balance Rewards card ● 2 ticket stubs from The Hobbit Part I ● 1 brochure about
Columbus, Indiana’s Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor ● 1 2011 NPS National Parks Pass
● 1 Barnes & Noble plastic bag ● 1 2013 calendar
March 19th
● 217 Zion Adventure Company business cards
March 20th
● 1 paper bag from the Springdale Candy Company ● 2 business
cards ● 1 plastic bag ● 1 dicey adapter bought from a ghetto back-alley street
market in Batumi, Republic of Georgia ● 1 dead travel alarm clock from Israel ●
2 pieces of glass from picture frames ● 1 pair of ripped tights ● 2 horrible
bras ● 5 magnets ● 1 non-BPA free Nalgene water bottle ● 3 priority mail
envelopes
March 21st
● 9 priority mail envelopes ● 1 pair of black leggings ● 2
healing balms for muscle pain ● 1 container of aspirin ● 1 Bath & Body
Works face mask ● 1 foot spray ● 2 books ● 4 crappy hangers
March 22nd
● 2 hangers ● 1 cardboard box ● 1 box of pastel chalks ● 1
stack of Z-Arts paperwork ● 1 expired coupon ● 1 postcard ● 2 ugly pieces of
cardstock ● 1 pair of broken earrings ● 1 Altoids container ● 1 empty Ziploc
gallon size bag ● 1 dress ● 10 Crayola markers
March 23rd
● 8 Crayola markers ● 1 ball point pen ● 14 crappy pictures
of Zion and Georgia
March 24th
●13 crappy pictures of Zion and Georgia ● 1 Christmas card
from 2012 ● 1 Zion National Park Map and Guide ● 1 copy of my resume ● 1 empty
Radisson Blu Batumi sugar packet ● 7 random paper scraps from my travel journal
box
March 25th
● 6 sheets of tissue paper ● 1 cracked Ziploc plastic
container ● 1 empty plastic bag from under the car seat ● 1 bin of recycling ●
1 pedometer fitness guide ● 1 stretched out hair elastic ● 1 Grand Circle
postcard ● 12 gross caramels ● 1 almost empty bag of trail mix
March 26th
● 2 expired containers of plan Greek yogurt ● 1 Trader Joe’s
Creamy Peanut Butter that froze in the fridge ● 1 box of fridge baking soda ●
11 credit card receipts from the car ● 1 2003 Utah Driver Handbook ● 2 napkins ●
1 empty Carmex lip balm ● 1 damaged U2 cd ● 1 expired Utah vehicle registration
● 1 2011 Road Runner oil change document ● 3 expired Progressive insurance cards
March 27th
● 1 expired Minnesota vehicle registration document ● 3 more
expired Progressive insurance cards ● 1 BYU Cougar cookbook ● 3 receipts ● 1
empty box ●18 more Zion Adventure Company business cards
March 28th
● 1 temporary Utah driver’s license ● 2 obsolete Wells Fargo
account cards ● 7 random business cards ● 1 used Verizon Wireless rebate card ●
2 Walgreens receipts ● 2 plastic boxes ● 1 empty cardboard box ● 2 ticket stubs
to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
● 1 Crayola marker ● 1 postcard from Café Diablo ● 1 Kierkegaard quote from a
British Christmas cracker ● 2 sheets of paper with friends’ contact info ● 6
random scraps of paper from the travel journal box
March 29th
● 1 empty bottle of lotion ● 1 book ● 1 bath body brush ● 1
bottle of terrible apricot facial scrub ● 1 friend’s return address label ● 1
bottle of expire SPF30 sunscreen (girls from Minnesota need something much
stronger) ● 1 old emery board ● 1 empty Springdale Candy Company bag ● 1
plastic plate ● 1 plastic bowl ● 1 nail clipper ● 12 email drafts ● 230
messages in my email inbox
March 30th
● 31 emails in my Gmail promotions box ● 6 gardenia-lotus
fragrance packets that did not smell ● 1 ball point pen ● 7 earrings without a
matching pair ● 1 nail buffer ● 2 random business cards ● 3 random CDs ● 3
crappy Jack Johnson CDs from my embarrassing Jack Johnson phase circa 2005 ● 2
expired Greek yogurts ● 3 sticks of butter left over from housesitting ● 1
broken necklace ● 1 coffee mug
March 31st
● 7 unusable wine corks ● 1 plastic food storage container ●
1 notepad ● 6 Starbucks Refreshers packets which were WAY too sweet ● 3 packets
of sodium laden instant soup ● 1 random plastic lid ● 6 plastic combs ● 1 book ●
2 toe separators for pedicures ● 1 Turkish Airlines goody bag for economy class
● 1 obsolete day planner ● 1 unused journal ● 1 copy of A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Looking back on the experience, it is curious to consider
the item I got rid of that brought the greatest release. Getting rid of
literally hundreds of my left over business cards from Zion Adventure Company
removed this huge weight from me. I've not worked there in 4 years, yet I still
had all these cards. Looking back I’m not sure why I kept them, perhaps as a
tangible reminder that I was a part of that organization. But I have other,
better reminders of that time such a as my Marmot fleece jacket that has been
to 9 countries with me and international airports in 3 others. When I put those
in the trash I finally was able to let go of whatever it was I still held on
to. In all honesty, I did keep 2 which are in my journal.
Getting rid of so much was liberating. I've been in that
situation before when I got rid of an immense amount of stuff before I went to
Georgia. I’d forgotten what that can feel like. Now that I don’t have these
things in my life I feel like I have the ability to do so much more because I’m
not distracted by things of no significance. Some of the things I got rid of
actually caused me anxiety because of their presence in my life; consequently,
the feeling of being overwhelmed by these things is gone now. Moreover, it has
helped me to rediscover the value of the old adage “you get what you pay for.”
I’d rather pay more up front for something that will last then to buy the same
thing 5 times. Also, initially I struggled with how to address things that had
been gifts. Some of those gifts I cannot part with like the autographed copy
actually dedicated to me of The True
Confessions of Charlotte Doyle my brother got for me by the author, Avi. With
other gifts I decided if it had served its purpose, such as the Tommy Bahama
perfume from day 3, that I could easily get rid of it without feeling guilty. Finally,
I believe getting rid of these things that were weighing me down is the first
step to helping me get rid of the weight that I carry so needlessly.
Unfortunately, my physically weight can’t be gotten rid of as easily as the
other things can.
My next big project is to deal with that one specific thing.
