Defragging Reality

Sometimes your life gets too cluttered. If it’s anything like mine, way too cluttered. Old receipts, bills, clothes, books, software, manuals, movies, videogames, dishes, silverware, pots, pans, tchotchkes, comics, bags, chairs, tables, desks, personal electronics, toys, stuffed animals … the amount of stuff in my little tiny apartment is staggering.

So I’m doing away with some of it, simplifying, in an effort to streamline my existence. The easiest thing to do is donate some old clothes. I’ve had t-shirts from my high school days sitting in the back of our closet for years now. Old shoes … I even found an old pajama t-shirt I thought I’d worn into oblivion. It’s interesting and insightful to go through your old things and defrag a bit.

My next project is going to be my books. With my new Kindle in the house, all the dead tree I own is just a liability. Even my gaming books, traditionally objects I’ve viewed with an unhealthy reverence, are going to go under the chopping block this time. Old editions of main books, sourcebooks aplenty, cheap fantasy novels — stuff I’m never going to read again. It’s all going out via the ministrations of Amazon or Frugal Muse (our favorite used book store).

The current project (before I get to the books) is to finish the clothes. See, I’m all set, but Katie … not so much. I quite literally had to explode our bedroom in order to get a full look at the situation – and it’s not pretty. I’m surrounded by her shoes, dresses, and such, and we’re going to have to go through all of it before we get our living room OR our closet back.

I’m going to cop to this: it was kind of a dick thing, forcing the issue. But sometimes the clutter gets too bad, and you’ve got to do a forced defragging. This was one of those times, and I think our movement around the apartment (and through life in general) will be improved by it.