Survey #235 Response from Gabriella
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| Complete the following statement: “My home could serve as the Museum of _____.” (You may also substitute “monument” for “museum.”) | Not a museum, but a fair-sized private library. |
| Complete the following statement: “My home is a warehouse for _____.” | my professional ressources, which I may need again. (At the beginning of my retirement, I had planned to get rid of them, but then - surprise, surprise - it turned out that I would need them again.) To call them "a warehouse" would be an exaggeration, as I've curated them in the meantime. |
| Describe something that you’re keeping because it connects you with a past version of yourself, your family history, a former relationship, etc. | I can't get myself to throw out my nearly completed PhD thesis. I've been keeping it in a crate in the basement for nearly 40 years. So what! I've been doing very well so far in decluttering the rest of my stuff. |
| Describe something that you’re keeping for a future need, whether real or imagined. What is the likelihood that you will use the item in question within the next year? Five years? | I keep a - relatively - small amount of office supplies that I am using up slowly. The idea that you should get rid of everything that you can reacquire in 20 minutes for under 20$ sounds clever but isn't really that: If you have to drive or walk to a store to get a notebook or some other little gadget which you need immediately, it will most likely take more than 20 minutes, and maybe cost a lot of gas in the bargain to get it. If you have it stored (and easily accessible :o) you can use it within seconds or minutes. Even if you order the item online, it will take at least a few hours until it is delivered. You will have to deal with getting rid of packaging (not exactly eco-friendly). You will most likely be obliged to buy a large number of these items ..... and will then have the "fun" of decluttering the surplus. If you need another one of these items later on, the whole process will start over again ... As for the financial aspect, imagine doing this 1 - 2 times a week and calculate the costs per year. What other things could you do with the money? Also calculate the number of hours you have to work for this amount of money - and add the number of hours you spend processing the purchases. It's a portion of your life, that you spend doing something tedious and unnecessary. Of course, I am not proposing to store large amounts of every item under the sun, but only things with a high probability of being needed. The storage should be limited by the container concept. |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | I live in two homes, in Berlin, Germany and in Tangier, Morocco and I spend about 6 months per year in each. We keep the necessary furniture and other household items in each home, but I transport a small amount of clothing that I want to wear in both places every time I "commute". What are your suggestions for keeping it things minimal but nevertheless practical in this situation. |
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