I am sitting on my floral-covered couch that I bought eight years ago from a thrift store in Forsyth County. Years of sunlight streaming through the living room windows has made it faded, and all the people and dogs who have sat upon it have resulted in tears and other kinds of obvious damage. My closest friend has advised me to throw that and other aged furniture out and go to Costco to buy replacements. She doesn’t bring up the fact that she has money to burn which supports an expensive lifestyle. But, this is where our ideological differences begin. I have made a decision this year to live simply, cheaply and adopt a minimalist approach, making a conscious choice to buy and consume less now and in the future. Besides the antiquated couch, I am keeping other old things – a Keith Urban t-shirt with two tiny holes, Target rain boots with a rip at their tops, once expensive bath towels that show signs of wear with stringy threads hanging from them, a couple of fancy, chipped English plates that were not treated with proper respect in the dishwasher. This article is an argument for why you too should consider keeping what you have and making it do. Here are some reasons why.
Admittedly, it is human nature to hang onto material possessions, an idea driven by the status and sense of security that they impart. But, if you can extend the lifespan of those objects, you are engaging in an environmentally friendly practice and reducing consequent waste. The notion of sustainability, using what one has, rather than purchasing more things, allows your environmental footprint to shrink resulting in impacts which make our world less cluttered. Keeping old stuff is cost-effective as well. In my case, my tattered couch is covered with knitted afghans my mother once made for me and secondhand blankets. Its imperfections are there, but it is still comfortable to relax upon and welcoming to my easily satisfied Bichon Frise. I consequently don’t spend money buying a new couch or the time involved in doing so. Since time is money, I’m saving in several respects.
The idea of keeping old things has also taken a turn sometimes to repurposing them in an altered form. I have made a quilt from old jeans, a small bookcase from a weathered ladder, broken and compromised pottery into holding jars for pens, loose change and hairpins. But increasingly, I have also changed my attitude about how I look at life, ruthlessly evaluating my possessions and asking myself, do I really need this? Reading Marie Kondo’s book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” made me a believer – particularly her belief in keeping items that bring you joy. I’m not sure why I have four blenders and more than 50 coffee mugs, but most of them are leaving shortly. I simultaneously have decided to keep things which still work but may no longer be aesthetically pleasing, to repurpose old things which may not be in pristine form anymore and to bring less into my home – which means ultimately that decluttering will be a quicker process in my future life.
Increasingly, in concert with extending the life of old things in my house, I now work to also declutter it, filled as it is to the brim with hundreds of books, movies, knick-knacks and antique artifacts picked up from forays in thrift stores and flea markets. As Marie Kondo would say, first thank each item for its time with you and then move your things on to someone who needs it more. Stop sentimentality in its tracks or thinking that tells you – someday I might need this. I have clothes in my closet from decades ago because I still think in the back of my mind I might lose another 20 pounds. I have kept some old things to help recall cherished memories like the baby clothes of my 32-year-old son. Sometimes, we must remove the weight – the emotional gravitas – of a situation from our shoulders and get rid of all this physical detritus. The clutter admittedly has taken a toll on my emotional state, and I am eager to internalize the thought pattern that I am NOT my stuff, I am more than my possessions. I no longer believe that my family will someday want my things (like my vintage dresses and turquoise jewelry bracelets). I have been told pointedly that they do NOT want these things.
Living with my old but still functional items and donating other things has made me feel lighter while, at the same time, blessing others who might find these things useful. My New Year’s resolution is, don’t buy any more stuff, I have enough.
The post “This Old Couch and Why I’m Keeping It” first appeared on Forsyth Woman Magazine.