Accumulation Redux

Ten years ago I handled everything Drake and I owned - well, except for some garage tools.  We created three piles:  store, take, or discard.  It took about two years to downsize our Hurst household.  I really thought I'd never have to do that again.  Well.....  Hold on there.  This spring I've found myself doing exactly that AGAIN as we take off for a Brooklyn adventure.  Take is what goes into the steel boxes to be freighted.  Store is what is staying in the Sun City house, and discard is actually giveaway to various charitable organizations rather than in the garbage.   

I think the most disheartening revelation about this whole redux process is, despite my best efforts, I seem to have re-accumulated.  The only thing holding down the acquisitions is I have fewer square feet to work with.  And, don't misunderstand, my 'best efforts' are pretty ruthless.  I don't buy books anymore, and I still have less than roughly half the number of clothes I used to have.

So, what do we buy?  I guess the number one acquisition since we left Texas has been art.  I have lithographs of the Pacific Northwest.  I have added paintings of New England, Nova Scotia, Colorado, Pacific Northwest, Arizona, and a woodblock print.  I've bought pottery, sculpture, a Japanese quilt square and painted plates.  This has been added to what I kept from my Texas house.  I've had to 'salon style' hang lots of the pieces since our wall space is severely limited.

The other category which is creeping up in accumulation  is all my sewing and embroidery supplies.  I'm a sucker for thrift store/discount store material.  I love to sew, and still make a certain percentage of my own clothes.  Now, I'm doing limited sewing for the new grandson.  (Good thing he's not a girl!  There's definitely a home sewing bias between girl babies and boy babies.) 

The price of fabric has skyrocketed as individually owned fabric stores are now almost non-existent.  Hancock's (national fabric store) went bankrupt and closed down.  JoAnn's national chain is driving everyone else out of the business.  This store has a defacto monopoly - especially on fabric.  They can pretty much charge whatever they want for fabric, notions, and embroidery supplies.  With ordinary fabric running $6 to $10 a yard, it's hard to pass up $1 a yard material at thrift stores even if I don't have an immediate use for it.  The same goes for 'tools' and 'notions'.  For example, I bought a snap fastener tool for $1 at a thrift store not too long ago, and I saw the exact same tool for sale at the above mentioned fabric store for $25.  Same goes for a rotary cutter, all kinds of scissors, embroidery thread, patterns, - oh, the list goes on and on.  The fact remains I still have to find places and drawer space for these acquisitions.

If someone like me who has the mindset of, "If I haven't used it in a year or more, I probably don't need it." struggles to keep accumulations down, it's no surprise the Japanese woman who is selling the purging idea has not only a book but also a TV show on how to get rid of your stuff.  I must say, though, thanking every piece you unload is a little over the top for me.

However, I do approve of her basic idea that we all have too much stuff cluttering up our lives, weighing us down, and sometimes clouding our priorities.  People often ask me if I don't 'miss' all the items I've jettisoned over the years.  Sometimes they don't really even believe me when I say, not only 'no', but that having fewer things is freeing. 

Still it's a struggle.  I like a comfortable life.  Many of my purchases are all about aesthetics but many are about convenience.  Another area of purchase is I love to give gifts, and I struggle to not foist off on others stuff they ultimately don't want just because I like to give.  Inside our family, we try to avoid giving lots of things.  Instead, we try to keep our gift purchases to consumables, especially at holidays, but even so gift items creep up on me.

One problem which fuels re-accumulation is I never met a clearance rack I didn't want to stop and chat with.  Over the years, I've learned two things about 'clearance'.  (1)  If no one else wanted it, you probably don't either, and (2) If you don't have an immediate use for it, don't buy it even if it's 80% off.  Still, even a savvy shopper like me can sometimes hear and be seduced by the siren call of 'clearance'.

On the other hand, I don't need immediate gratification.  I can see something appealing, put it down and walk away from it until I can check out reviews about it and find the most attractive price.  Then, if it passes the, "Yes, I absolutely need this test."  I'll buy it.  People who can't 'wait' to make purchases baffle me.

The other type of shopper I don't understand are those who MUST shop in the most expensive places.  Value is not often found in price or brand.  Usually, only status is found in price or brand, and I don't really want or need validation of self worth from my possessions or where I buy them.

However, my point is just because I can get it for peanuts doesn't mean I should buy it.  Filling my house 'up' is not a game I want to play, but obviously, invariably, in this land of too many and too much, I find myself playing.