How many trips are necessary to Goodwill or the landfill to get rid of your stuff before you’re finally over stuff? I’ve arrived. For my next birthday, skip the gifts. I want minimalism. By choice, not forced, of course. Yes, it’s time to get over stuff and become a minimalist.

5 Reasons I’m Over Stuff

#1 — Stuff Clutters Your Mind

My eyes need a landing spot when scanning a room. I go into sensory overload when I enter a messy room or one crowded with knick-knacks and paddywhacks on every surface. I can deal with the trauma briefly if I’m in your house, but I don’t need to suffer it in my own home. I guess some trinkets and doodads are memories of good times. Why not just take a picture and scroll down memory lane when you want to?

#2 — Stuff is Expensive

You pay to get the stuff, and then a few years later, you pay to get rid of it. The landfill isn’t free. Even a donation trip to Goodwill costs you over $4 a gallon in gas, plus your time and energy. Or worse, you pay $100 a month to store the stuff you eventually give to Goodwill. Instead of buying that next “thing,” I’ll ask myself, “What would these dollars be worth in ten years if I invested them in Tom Brady NFTs?”

#3 — Stuff Takes Time and Energy

You dust, clean, buff, polish, maintain, and repair all your stuff, and move it around to make room for new stuff. Sooner or later, you store the old stuff in a closet (or garage while your car sits in the driveway). And it takes more time to mow and weed-eat around the boat that hasn’t seen the lake in three years. Stuff takes too much time.

#4 — Stuff Becomes a Problem for Someone at Some Point

When you die, somebody has to deal with your stuff. As I approach my 59th birthday, a new realization is dawning on me. My next move could be to the old folk’s home or the cemetery. Either transition requires someone to deal with all my crap. Bob Goff wrote a great book, Love Does, and he needs to include another chapter, “Love Gets Rid of Its Own Junk, So No One Else Has to Deal with It.” The kindest gift I can leave my kids is to become a minimalist.

#5 — Stuff is Controlling and Addictive

Stuff controls you. If you buy a new couch and it doesn’t match the walls, you have to paint the walls. The walls don’t work with your new artwork, so you buy new artwork. Your other furniture now looks old with a new sofa, new artwork, and freshly painted walls. This controlling and addictive nature of stuff fuels points #2 and #3. I’m tired of stuff controlling me. I want to be controlled only by the Holy Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, not hoard vast amounts of stuff.

I’m not sure if I know how to become a minimalist. But as I adopt new habits, the habit of stuff is one I need to drop. I’d love to hear your ideas on minimalism in the comments.

*Featured image by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

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