A first-world problem

As a minimalist, I find empty space to be one of my greatest luxuries.

~ Laurie Buchanan, PhD

We're moving - again.

We've moved a lot and will be out of our townhouse, in the Greater Toronto Area, by the end of the month.

Moving is seldom fun, especially when we have a lot of possessions (some very heavy) and we don't hire movers.

Hoarding serves no one well

Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions.

~ Barbara Hemphill

My motto has become “If in doubt, throw it out.”

By throwing it out, I mean donate to charity, recycle, sell it - pass it on to someone who can use it. After all, one person’s junk can be another person’s treasure.

As empty nesters, we downsized from a five-bedroom home in 2019 to a two-bedroom townhouse. That was a challenge. We purged a lot.

Our current dilemma is that our only residence - the cottage - is fully furnished. What do we do with the townhouse contents?

Too much stuff

The more space we have, the more stuff we accumulate.

Sometimes we save heirlooms that have been in the family for generations - solid wood traditional furniture and antiques, fine china, Royal Doulton figurines, art, silver tea sets and silverware (that require polishing), wedding dresses, thousands of family photos, colourful chesterfields and love seats...

We assume that when the kids have a home they will be eager to take these.

Yet, when the opportunity arises, there seems to be little interest.

But, surely they’ll come to their senses - we think? They’ll tire of those chipped random coloured dishes and easy-to-stain white sectionals. So, we store our treasures.

Off-site storage facilities have become a booming business. Our friends highly recommend them.

Doesn't the act of storing our possessions just delay dealing with them? Isn't it just postponed decision-making?

Closing thoughts

It may be easier to embrace the future unencumbered by the past.

What we are dealing with here is a first-world problem - too much stuff and not enough space.

Possessions can waste our valuable time, energy and resources. We can become possessed by our possessions.

The question is: Will we let them go?

Yet to be determined :(