Why We Sweat the Small Stuff

I love design magazines like Dwell, Domino (RIP), and Architectural Digest. I escape into their perfectly serene photos, where (mostly) ordinary looking people live in extraordinary spaces -- spaces that I am rather certain no one actually lives in looking like that.

http://www.dwell.com/slideshows/chefs-table.html?slide=2&c=y&paused=true

I see the above photo and I just want to ask, where are you hiding all your stuff? I imagine when the photographer leaves, the lovely couple goes outside to the storage pod they've rented for the duration of the photo shoot and starts hauling all of its contents back inside.

Over the last two weeks I've taken up residence on Craigslist, selling a fair number of large sized items -- an extra long couch, dining room table, book case, rug, and a few others. I've sold most of these pieces because I want to move into a smaller space -- but I also know that I will most likely acquire another table, another appropriately sized couch, etc, when needed. The big items are part of the weight of my stuff for my current goals, but as I have been sorting, culling, and organizing, I've come to believe it is the small stuff that seems to be really weighing me down.

Two mornings ago I got up early to write and I had to leave my bedroom because the visual clutter was too distracting. Once I took notice of this, every corner of my house seemed to be equally crowded (granted, I am packing -- the place is a mess). In the end, I put down the computer and walked through each room taking a mental inventory of all the small stuff lying around, determining categories I needed to address. Some include: office supplies (this has subcategories), toiletries, framed photos, all items on display for aesthetic purpose.

This morning I tackled the stuff that was in, on and around my desk (excluding papers).

I have 2 plastic bins and 2 drawers with office supplies. I think I open maybe one of these drawers 1 or 2 times a month. Filling them are hundreds of note cards, labels, color coding stickers, all varieties of paper clips, 8 rolls of tape, 4 pairs of scissors, 5 packs of breathe mints, and enough staples to last me a good 10 years. Most of the note cards and stickers were purchased when I was working on my dissertation research, and even then I didn't put a dent in the collection. There is no need to hold on to them any more.

Also in these drawers and bins are items completely unrelated to "office supplies". Exhibit A:

(Late 80s/early 90s hair. Yes, those are mall bangs.)

These buttons are a fine example of the extra items I have lying around, misplaced categorically, completely without use other than to keep me humble. You may be saying, "No, wait, don't throw those away they have historical and comedic value". And I would say to that, I agree with you, so I'm not tossing them. I've started a bin of things I want to hold onto that helps tell the story of my life (for no one but me and if I'm lucky one other interested person). My only point (and I do have one) is that I have a lot of out of place items that I call "tolerances". These are things I just put up with, consciously or not, because I don't feel like dealing with them in the moment, even though by not dealing with them (meaning, finding the right place for them), I very much continue to deal with them. Every time I open a drawer for one of the 8 rolls of tape, the buttons get in the way. I see them, and a thought flashes across my brain, "Why are those still there?"

I dream of living inside a Dwell magazine photo. It seems the only way to do this, other than renting a storage Pod, is to face the small stuff I have -- piece by piece. I can't say how I acquired 8 rolls of tape, but do I really need to keep all 8? My first thought is, "I'm not sure. I paid money for them. I will use them eventually." And this is most likely true. The same goes for the uncountable number of bottles of lotion I've acquired (please do not give me lotion as a gift. People really like to give lotion as gifts). The question I need to ask myself now is, do I continue to pay in other ways for the tape/lotion/etc by keeping it around? I wonder if the small stuff may not be so small after all.

I'm interested in knowing, what are you tolerating, and what will you do about it?