Can you count to 100?

Someone just sent me a note that I might feel better if I wrote something...she was right, so I am taking her advice. It has been too long for me.

I read an article recently that talked about a couple that decided to try an experiment and reduce the number of items they each owned to 100. They started out slowly, giving away and/or selling most of their belongings. Some items, like the tv, they put out of use in a closet for a month to see how they felt with it being gone. After a period of time, they finally achieved the magic number: 100 items. After this methodical purging, they were able to eliminate a large portion of their debt. The wife was able to quit her well-paying job and instead now spends her days working part-time at a job she enjoys (although the paycheck is a lot smaller) and spends time volunteering for projects she cares about. They even moved out of their 2 bedroom apartment into a 450 square foot studio. The result? They said they were much happier and content to be off the proverbial treadmill in order to provide for all the excess ‘stuff’ that had once filled their home and lives.

It got me thinking, could our family do that? Could we reduce the number of items that we own to 500? When I say number of items, that means each and EVERY thing. A fork would be one item, a book one item, a toothbrush one item, a pair of shoes one item. You get the picture. The idea intrigues me, it intrigues me a lot.

I decided I would present it to my family and see what they thought. I waited to spring the idea until we were all together at a restaurant for lunch. I shared that I had recently read the article and was wondering if they thought we could do the same thing. What would they think? Well of course the reviews of my proposition were mixed. Our youngest, ever the worrier, responded with panic in her voice (what else is new?)...’we’re not going to do that are we?’. Our oldest shrugged, but you could tell the wheels were turning. Yes that means your stacks of books that you enjoy so much. The middle one...well the middle one can’t part with an old pair of jeans so you can guess how she greeted the idea.

I think Dean was intrigued. You could tell he mulled it over for a bit, or maybe he didn’t. Maybe he was mulling over something else and had already chalked it up to one of my hair-brained schemes. I can usually read him like a book, but this time I wasn’t sure. While we both desire to have a smaller home and have already made one big downsize move in the last five years, this was something even more extreme.

That afternoon, I kept processing the idea in my head. If I really decided to do it, HOW would I do it? As I sit here and type this, I look around at all the items that surround me. For instance, I LOVE dishes. A few years back I got rid of several different sets. That’s right ‘sets’ of dishes. I decided to keep only those that had come from family members. My mom’s Franciscan Apple dish set that she had started when she got married. My Grandma J’s good china set that I was lucky enough to receive after my Grandparents were both gone. Then my latest treasure, a beautiful set from my Great Auntie Al. Before she died, she had wanted me to have them. I don’t think I could part with these yet, they are all too special. My idea is that each of my 3 kids will one day receive one of the sets. I counted. Those 3 sets comprise 270 items (and yes I counted a cup and saucer as 1 item). That doesn’t even include the other treasures in my china cabinet. The 3 cordial glasses that my Grandma C gave me for my 3 kids. When they were little they would go and spend the night with her in her apartment. She would set the table with her fine dishes and serve them grape juice in those little cups. She trusted those toddlers with her finest dishes and they thought it was so special. I couldn’t give those away to anyone but the kids and they aren’t ready for such belongings yet.

While I do crave a simpler life, I don’t think I am quite ready yet to reduce my belongings down to only 100 things. I think I could do it if I had to. I’m just not ready yet. Are you?