More experience less stuff
July 14, 2008
Posted by CindyW in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
We are still on the road where internet access is at best inconsistent. Still, every so often I check in with friends and family via email.
Last week among my large collection of unread messages was a recommendation email from a friend in the bay area. She wrote, “If you visited our home in the past, you know what a mess it was. We couldn’t see the floor in the kids’ rooms, couldn’t find a shirt in our closet, and certainly couldn’t park a car in the garage. But Karen changed all that. She is a professional organizer highly recommended by my local mother’s group. She did an amazing job creating a flow in all the rooms. She compartmentalized the kids’ rooms. Now I can actually find something to wear in my closet. Our minivan finds itself happily parked in the garage with space to spare. I highly recommend Karen to anyone who may need to reorganize their homes.”
Home organizers seem to be a profession de jour. Lately I have encountered quite a few in various forms - closet organizer, home organizer, garage designer, etc. Normally when an email like this arrives in my inbox, I simply delete it without giving it much thought. However, being six thousand miles away from my ordinary environment seems to provide me with fresh perspectives. The idea of a professional organizer for an average home suddenly just seems, oh so absurd.
For those who are professional organizers, I sincerely apologize for snickering. Clearly there is a reason for the birth of such a profession in our consumer based society.
Being in the bay area, where the mere purchase of a small lot can break your arms, legs, and more, our homes in general cannot compete in size with an average American home. My friend’s home is 1,600 square feet, about the average in this area. Have we lost the ability to manage 1,600 square feet?
No. But it seems that we have lost the ability to manage what we put on the 1,600 square feet. Simply put, we have so much stuff that we need a professional to tell us how and where to spread it so we don’t trip over it constantly.
Undoubtedly professional organizers have acquired skills to streamline stuff placement and perhaps even help families prioritize and trim their stuff. But isn’t the profession somewhat a band-aid rather than a solution?
Over a beer (actually a few) with a group of newly acquainted folks who were from various corners of the world, the topic of profession came up. “What do you guys think of professional organizers?” I interjected.
Hmmm? What do you mean?
After my probably inadequate explanation, most people in the group were quite amused. “So you spend your hard earned money on too many things. Then you spend your hard earned money to hire someone to either help you get rid of the things or put them away.” A lady from Belgium reflected.
Sounds about right. Fresh perspectives are always helpful.
A man from UK admitted that he could use the help from such a professional, “Our house is a bloody mess!” Apparently the overflowing of stuff is not a unique American problem.
I don’t remember how we ended the conversation, after all a few rounds of beer often obscure one’s memory. But I recall that at one point we toasted to “more experience, less stuff.”
Wait, wait, can that be a solution to our clutter problem? More experience, less stuff instead of professional organizers? Can beer occasionally provide some level of clarity? Can a random group of people with diverse cultural background arrive at such a simple solution to our unique 21st century problem?
I will cheer to that - More experience, less stuff…
CindyW at Organicpicks
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Comments»
I agree. More experience, less stuff. We have people come to out how and inevitably them mention our LACK of stuff. We don’t really decorate - I don’t enjoy it so why do it? - we have two completely empty rooms because we really don’t need them (although eventually, we’ll probably make one a guest room), and we’ve spent the last 2 years getting rid of everything we don’t use. It’s really nice. The car fits in the garage with our bikes on the other side, Most of our closets are either empty or only half full (of some clothes and computer stuff - for hubby). There’s a lot of freedom in clean spaces. That’s why designers push “white space” in their designs. Those clean open areas keep us focused on what’s truly important - living our lives.
I don’t need a professional organizer, but I could probably use a friend to help me go through my closet and tell me what I need, and what I should get rid of!
But I have found that this year, the “stuff” has thinned out a little in the apartment, and it’s a relief! Getting rid of stuff is a very zen-making kinda thing. I’m glad that I’m reducing my possessions as opposed to just buying new storage units from The Container Store to house my possessions.
I agree wholeheartedly - if you ‘need’ a professional organizer, you have too much stuff! I feel stressed out if there are too many things in a room or in my house - it gets to be such a burden to buy/arrange/dust/fix/sweep around/worry about all this stuff. I’m slowly re-homing some of my stuff, and it feels good every time I have one less thing. It is very Zen-like, like Arduous says.
We used to ask the grandparents to give our kids experiences instead of stuff for gifts. True, when they are in preschool, they just want to open presents, but later, like grade school age, they knew they were getting that trip to the zoo, or whatever, and were excited.
Cheers! I truly wish everyone would buy into the more experiences, less stuff paradigm. You can’t take it with you and all it does is clog up your home, requiring hours of managment, cleaning, maintaining and apparently professional organizing.
Even though relatives and friends have gotten better at the more experiences, less stuff thing, we still have schools, summer camps and birthday parties to contend with. Will it ever end?
Oh, yes!! I agree, but now can someone break it to my husband? our garage and basement are an embarrassment! Every so often I go on a rampage and craigslist a bunch of stuff, donate a bunch and threaten to throw out the rest. Then, more just creeps back in. Tools, hardware, paperwork. Makes me crazy!!