Last summer we set out to get rid of all of our junk. We failed.
That's not 100% accurate. A teeny tiny bit over a year ago we had a yard sale in an effort to make some extra money to throw at the debt and to unclutter our lives. We sold off a solid 1/3 of what we had in storage and lying around the apartment. If you want a more detailed account of what happened that day you can check it out here. The day after the yard sale we felt great. Flush with cash and able to easily walk through our apartment without bumping into anything was a fantastic felling, but that feeling didn't last. I am embarrassed to say that over the past 365 days the junk has accumulated yet again.
Look, it happens. As much as you try eliminate items with your Spring cleanings and your back to school recycling and of course there's the yearly Purge, if you don't change your lifestyle you'll keep running into this same problem over and over again. We have a problem with having too many things. As much as we'd like to point the finger at one another or at society we're all to blame. Dylan has a problem with electronics and records, Keri has a problem with clothes and shoes and society has a problem with people not wanting to buy things. It's a gross problem to have, trust us we understand it's gross.
Some people have a problem with not having food or adequate housing and we're over here worrying about the fact that we have too many things. It's disgusting. It feels like the equivalent of airing a Red Robin commercial during a show about the American hunger crises (which is real and totally worth looking into) Sometimes it's easy to feel lost, or selfish, or unsure of what to do.
Looking for inspiration we did what most people do: went to Google! There are plenty of articles that let people know the best ways to sell your shit. These blogs jump at the opportunity to tell you about Craigslist and eBay and new start up companies with no vowels in their names pop up every week to help with selling garbage online. These articles make it seem like the problem is finding a place to sell your items and tend not to address the real problem. The real problem is that we all buy too much shit! We, as a culture, spend money on the stupidest things. During a recent episode of House Hunters that Dylan was watching a woman said "What's the point of having a kitchen if it doesn't have a breakfast nook?" *murder music*
We are not immune to these stupid buying habits either. We watched parts of the Apple update this week. We irrationally thought about what our lives would be like with a newer, bigger, better iPhone before rational thought kicked in. Oh yeah, these are electronic pieces of garbage made by a garbage company who's employees would rather jump out a window than build another fucking iPad. But we want one! Advertising can make you do some crazy things. Don't buy into it.
During our Googling we came across a TED Talk from a couple years back. Some dude spoke about selling his shit, buying less and actually living life. You want more money? Buy less. This type of advertising works better for us, and for the soul.
