Saturday, November 06, 2010
NaBloPoMo Day 6: Stuff
Ever feel like you've just got too much "stuff"? I do. Though we don't have as many fancy shmancy doodads and doohickies as some people do, we certainly are not lacking in "stuff". In fact, I don't know how we've acquired so much "stuff"!
Hubby doesn't like throwing things away. I'm way too sentimental to part with some of my items. Little One has accumulated enough toys to fill a garden shed (which is what we should have to store all her toys)! The weird thing is that we don't really splurge or buy things for ourselves. I don't want to raise Little One in a way that she thinks that happiness can be purchased and that she needs material goods to keep her content. Quite the opposite, really.
If anything, I would like to purge our entire house and live a lifestyle that is free of clutter and unnecessary "things". When I lived in Japan, I was amazed at how the empty the temples were. It was so refreshing, peaceful, and uncluttered! The above photo is of a Japanese ryokan, which is a traditional style Japanese inn.
Even my apartment (when I lived and taught in Japan) was sparsely furnished. I loved the minimalist feel to my apartment. It wasn't overwrought with "stuff"! I had a kotetsu (table where you knelt at to eat) and a futon (that was folded up during the day and unfolded at night to sleep on). I sprung for a TV just to keep me entertained, although I couldn't understand any of the TV programs since they were all in Japanese.
Now, I actually miss not having possessions and material goods.
Hubby doesn't like throwing things away. I'm way too sentimental to part with some of my items. Little One has accumulated enough toys to fill a garden shed (which is what we should have to store all her toys)! The weird thing is that we don't really splurge or buy things for ourselves. I don't want to raise Little One in a way that she thinks that happiness can be purchased and that she needs material goods to keep her content. Quite the opposite, really.
Even my apartment (when I lived and taught in Japan) was sparsely furnished. I loved the minimalist feel to my apartment. It wasn't overwrought with "stuff"! I had a kotetsu (table where you knelt at to eat) and a futon (that was folded up during the day and unfolded at night to sleep on). I sprung for a TV just to keep me entertained, although I couldn't understand any of the TV programs since they were all in Japanese.
Now, I actually miss not having possessions and material goods.
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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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6 comments:
Wow! You lived in Japan?! You are so cool! :D I often go on "get rid of everything" rampages. I start feeling closed in when there is too much stuff everywhere. I find it hard to get rid of some things one time and then the next time I am tossing I don't feel so bad about getting rid of it for some reason that can only be explained with "Kat's logic". Lol.
Kat:
Yes! I taught in Japan for two years! It was the greatest time of my young adult life! :) I LOVE Japan!
I'm with you. I go through stages of "let's toss everything or donate everything to people". Usually it's in the Spring when I feel the urge to purge. LOL! Unfortunately for my husband, that usually takes place in the wee hours of the morning...when he's trying to sleep! LOL!
Did you teach with AEON? I have a few friends who teach with that company in Japan and they all like it.
My current homestay student is a 19 yr old Japanese girl. :)
My husband also hates getting rid of stuff, but he has family members who would go well on Hoarders, so I occasionally purge things...it's rare that he notices. Shhh...Don't tell!
Cindy:
No, but I did have friends who taught at AEON. I taught at GEOS in my first year and then at a family-run English school in my second year. It was great! One of the contracts I got was to teach travel and business English to engineers and managers at SHARP Electronics! It was fantastic! We had other contracts that were also fun. We taught at high schools, elementary schools, and kindergartens too. At our "base" school, we had everyone from children, high school students, university students, and housewives who wanted lessons.
I read that GEOS and NOVA have gone under in the past few years. Is AEON still around?
Cindy:
I tried throwing my husbands stuff away too! The only problem is that he DOES notice when his stuff is missing! LOL!
I even organized his office and put all his papers in order (category/date, etc) and he can never find anything. Leave his desk in a heap of papers, and he can miraculously find things. Go figure! He calls it organized chaos. I call it an eye-sore! The heap of papers in his office stresses me out. It's literally a mountain of papers.
I am the same way, I hate STUFF, I often go through our stuff & start deciding what to give away to charity. Our house is very small too, so that also makes me want to have less stuff. Joseph doesn't have alot of toys & what he does have has mostly been gifts. I am worried that after Christmas & for sure his next birthday that we are going to start needing to get rid of some of HIS stuff as well. I have a niece with a son that's 8 months younger than my son & I pass on all his clothes & lots of other stuff (as long as it's still in really good condition) to her. The rest all goes to Salvation Army.