Satisfaction.

Since childhood I’ve collected things, all of which seemed terribly important at the time, which means I now have various boxes of *things* taking up space in my room. As someone who effectively moves house every nine weeks, and is looking to move out in the next couple of years, after uni, I do feel that I have too much stuff.

Past collections of mine include:

– Beanie babies (in a box in the loft)

– Other soft toys (some gone, some in a box in the loft)

– Cat figurines (in a box in the loft)

– Owl figurines (in a box in the loft)

– Anything with badgers on (in a box in the loft)

– Keyrings (mostly thrown out when we moved two years ago)

– Picture frames (mostly gone now, except for one or two)

– Dragon figurines (in a box under my bed)

Most of this stuff means very little to me now; although I would obviously keep one or two pieces that were sentimental, I think I could stand to get rid of a lot of the figurines and ornaments I’ve collected, especially since my far more important book collection means I have very little shelf space to display things!

And it’s not even ‘collections’ of things. I recently chucked out four blankets, leaving me with only five or six. Okay, I hate being cold, but that’s excessive. I have an overflowing fancy-dress box (although I am heavily involved in a pantomime society at Oxford, I could probably outfit an entire cast from my box). I have more cushions than surfaces to put them on, and more notebooks than I could possibly ever write in.

I want to have fewer things. I think it would be easier to enjoy the things I love. It would probably be healthier for me (I constantly feel like I have a cold in my room at home, from all the dust).

I could never be a minimalist. I do like pretty things. But I’m sick to death of this maximum clutter.

I propose a new beginning – to satisfaction. Taken from the Latin satis (enough) but also using the whole word’s meaning: having enough and no more, and being happy with that.

Have you got any tips for decluttering and sorting out stuff? I declutter very often, and have donated huge sackfuls to the charity shop, but never seem to make any headway, and always have too much stuff! What’s your style – minimalist, stuff-lover, somewhere in between?