Summary
I wasn't throwing things away, I was clearing directions.
It seems like things want to stay with me even when I don’t want them to.
I had a trash cleanout yesterday and today.
My objects
Of course, you don’t have to think about big things, but in recent weeks my wealth has increased. Or, it has become unnecessary.
I noticed that the plastic cutlery I brought home had multiplied in my drawer. I now have plastic chopsticks, two spoons and four forks. The four forks started to light up like a warning sign in my drawer.
So I threw out half of the fork set. Along with the two straws that I brought home unwrapped, under the slogan of maybe one day they’ll be good.
Since I was so into the erosion of my wealth, I also looked through my medicine and cleaning products bags. I threw out two handfuls of unnecessary things while I was tidying up.
I also kept a small inventory.
I was forced to conclude that although I have two sunglasses, I don’t use any of them.
I brought two decks of French cards with me so I can learn some card tricks. I haven’t touched them in four months. Maybe I don’t need them now.
I have two water bottles. I’ve used one a couple of times, so half of the set is useless.
I’ve run out of my everyday pants, maybe I don’t need to keep them so I can have one while I buy another. I have three other shorts besides these. One is my swimming trunks, the other is a little torn, but the third one is still holding up.
There’s also the issue of the hair clipper. I used it in Thailand, first I cut my hair completely with this machine. Then I used a razor, and actually this little device became unnecessary at that time. I even had a haircut on Koh Samui that made it impossible for me to be my own hairdresser. So now this machine is also unnecessary.
I brought a baseball cap with me, I’ve used it a few times, it’s good to have one. Although, I’ll add that I also have a headscarf. The baseball cap I won at the Christmas party increased my already double headwear stock by 33%. No way! I don’t have three heads to use all of it.
I also brought a Rubik’s cube. I took it out sometimes and practiced with it. But it’s not the best cube, it’s a bit difficult to turn. So yesterday I surprised myself with a new one. It cost 50,000 IRD (1,000 HUF, 3 USD), I didn’t think much about it. However, that also ended up being one more than I should have.
Before my afternoon walk, I started clearing out the trash.
The Rubik’s cube was the test of whether I was able to let go of even the little things.
I took the old copy with me to the street, determined to give it to the first person who smiled at me. I didn’t have to carry the toy for long. It had a new owner within 20 meters. I asked him if he liked playing with it. He didn’t, but his child did. So I asked him to give it to his child then.
When I got home after the walk, I started packing a few things into a small bag.
Inside were the hair clipper, my worn-out but good-condition pants, one of the water bottles, two decks of cards, the drink holder I got at the oceanfront pub, the underwater camera case I bought unnecessarily on Koh Samui, the Christmas baseball cap, and the inflatable neck pillow I got from Nomad Cruise.
I’ve been on the road for 4+ months. Yet, I’ve managed to get rid of a big bag of things.
Please be careful, the doors are closing.
In the past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time organizing my ideas about my future. Trusting in the flow and guided by the flow, the picture I imagine of my place in this world has slowly come together.
The result of this organization is that I have realized that I keep too many doors open. These doors are hindering my progress because they bring nothing, but they consume my energy.
I need to close the doors labeled “I have dealt with this enough to close now”, “what if it is still good for something” and “I have to continue now so I don’t fall behind”.
I have solved this task for myself indirectly. I have decided what will remain open, and I automatically consider the rest closed.
Concentrating on less will bring visible results, I am absolutely sure of that.
I feel like I did a good job during the end-of-year decluttering.
I also remembered the old saying: less is often more.
What I need right now is silence. I let it surround me.Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
Linktree
Short introduction