Discardia_ More Life, Less Stuff - Dinah Sanders [53]
When was the last time you used a printed phone book? … and the time before that? I can't even remember when it was. I look everything up online now. If that’s you, too, then contact your phone company or visit the National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt-Out Site and opt out of receiving them. If you do use the printed books, though, keep the latest and only copy. Search around your house and purge those old phone books to the recycling bin. Multi-inch thick, instantly out-of-date giant bricks of paper take up a bunch of space for very little value these days.
Have fewer and better. Go through your dishes and pans. Donate any that would never be your first choice. Identify anything that you need to replace or upgrade. This could mean buying a better-made brand—my heavy-duty, nonstick cookware has definitely improved my quality of life—but it could also mean keeping an eye out in thrift stores for wonderful vintage replacements for dull modern goods. (My cocktail parties have eclectic glasses, which cheerfully reflect the diverse characters holding them.) When finding what you’ll love and use, the question “Will I kick myself for a year if I don't get this charming thing?” is as valid as “Would I remember in a few years that I once got this?” Don’t save the “best” dishes for some magic day. Find a way for them to make you happy every week.
Coming in, going out
As ever, it’s about seeing and deciding. Ask yourself, “Why do I have this? If I lost it, would or could I replace it?” Not everything you wouldn’t replace needs to be discarded, but a negative answer can be an indicator of something unimportant of which you’ll be letting go before too long or of something important of which you may want to document the memory.
When bringing new things into your home, ask, “Does this replace or render unneeded something else?” Whether as a short-term exercise to help you understand your habits or a strict zero-sum approach to life, try having a place in mind for anything you want to buy. If there's already something there, either it goes or decide not to buy the new thing.
When reviewing what you already have in your home, ask, “Have I used this in the last two years?” If not, let it go. One British Discardian, with the fine nom de web “Ruut Ackses,” has used this method to own nothing but the essentials, which are regularly used, plus some nice art. That technique in combination with the philosophy “stuff is just stuff … not your friends or your family,” has created a comfortable life with a lightened load.
While you progress through your uncluttering projects, keep an eye out for things you have lost or forgotten, which could serve a vibrant role in your life. As professional organizer Jeri Dansky says, it’s a treasure hunt. Whether the treasure you find turns out to be an object that takes a new active role, some lost travelers’ checks, or a gloriously empty shelf in the closet, there’s gold to be found! (The stuff that isn’t treasure to you could be to someone else; let it go to where it is needed.)
The beautiful essentials
Find your own rewards in having only the right things for you. When editor and author Diana Athill chose to move into a retirement home at the age of 92, she said she knew that it was the sensible thing to do, and was happily surprised to find it lucky as well. She wrote of the change, “At breakfast today I sat in my little room thinking how odd it is that I never get bored by my things. Then I realised that nothing in the room is here out of habit, or because it was given me by dear old so-and-so, or because I