DOWNSIZING

May sound good, but not for me!

Today, I got a call from a friend who is moving from her very large home on the river to a condo on the mainland.

Mind you, her new condo is larger than my house, and it’s absolutely beautiful—from the marble entrance foyer to the vaulted ceilings in the custom chef’s kitchen. But she still has more stuff than room, and she was calling for my advice.

We both knew she was not going to have a yard sale … that is not her style. I, on the other hand, love a good tag sale and have been known to pull over and pick up furniture that has been tossed to the side of the road. I think it was Martha Stewart who first coined “tag sale.” Somehow, using that phase instead of yard sale makes shopping for leftovers and used stuff sound much more highbrow.

However, the whole idea of moving and getting rid of things makes me anxious and even a little sad. My husband once said, “I’ll die in this house.” I think that was his reply when I suggested that we could sell our house and move to a condo. I’d been feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work our old house needed, inside and out, and I was ready to throw in the towel and start over in a new place.

We didn’t do it, of course … and probably never will. BUT, after talking with my friend, I investigated our closets and storage sheds in search of items I might sell and make a little money. What I found was a lot of junk! As it turns out, unlike my friend who could potentially make thousands from the sale of her stuff, most of what I had saved were items in need of repair, or items I thought I would use someday. I even found a box that I had never unpacked when we moved into our home twenty years ago!

Finding a twenty-year-old box made me laugh. My friend told me that I should read Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The book recommends that if you haven’t used or worn an item in two years, it‘s time to donate items that are still useful and throw away items that are broken or worn out. That advice got me thinking …

WAS THE AUTHOR CRAZY?

There are outfits in my closet I bought two years ago that I still think about as my “new clothes” and hanging at the ready for the perfect occasion. And the books I want to read … and the kitchen gadgets I’ll need when I get around to making that new recipe.

No, two years is not the gauge I can use to sort and organize my closets and storage spaces. In fact, at the rate that time has been speeding up, I’m not sure I can put a time limit on my piles that need organizing at all. Besides, I heard that millennial fashions are a big trend this year. Good thing I still have that box!

During the entire exercise, my husband didn’t say a word as I pulled things out and put them right back into each space. Which was surprising because he usually can’t resist a smug “I told you so.” And it drives me crazy when he’s right! My stuff may be junk according to Marie Kondo’s definition, but a magical life transformation will not be happening anytime soon.

We will not be downsizing.

Photo by Zachary Kadolph on Unsplash