MORE vs less: Decluttering My Fantasy Self

Day 16 – Fantasy Susan and Real Life Susan have different ideas about clutter.

If you are a parent, you know that your child has lots of toys. But did you know that s/he plays with only five % of what s/he owns? British research found that the average ten-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just twelve daily (The Telegraph).

However, children aren’t the only ones who own lots of toys. They aren’t the only ones who interact with such a low volume of their possessions. Adults have this problem, too.

Question time: How many hobbies and sports items do you own? How many do you play with on a regular basis?

The following items make up my hobby and sports list. (This is not a complete inventory.)

Sports

• Bench exercise equipment for my back
• Croquet set
• Exercise ball
• Hand weights
• Punching bag
• Racquetball rackets
• Tennis balls
• Walking poles

Hobbies

• Books
• Card making supplies
• Christmas items: trees, decorations, and art projects
• Googly eyes
• Jeans to make a quilt
• Kid art supplies
• Material
• Paper and paints: spray, acrylic, puffy and watercolor
• Quilting kits
• Scrapbooking supplies
• Specialty cooking pans
• Yarn

My garage and storage closet are packed with the above mentioned. Some of it is on my dining room table as pictured above (mainly the kid art supplies). And to tell the truth, I have not interacted with most of the listed items. Can you relate at all?

Why Do I Have All This Stuff That I Don’t Use? Because I’ve given my fantasy self my debit card, and “she” buy things I’ll never use.

“Sometimes our fantasy selves are meant to impress others; sometimes they’re relics of our past; sometimes they’re fantasies about our future,” (Francine Jay).

My fantasy self’s activities are all future related. For example, my fantasy self  . . .

1. Will make a quilt for each family member and close friends – THIS year.
2. Wants to make and bake unique and fancy foods (which are gluten-, dairy-, and sugar-free) on a regular basis.
3. Intends on hand crafting and sending cards to all my family and friends for all their special occasions.
4. Believes that exercise and sports are fun and will engage in them hours every day.
5. Knows that Christmas is more fun when you decorate A LOT and craft, craft, craft.
6. Anticipates reading for hours every day.

My fantasy self is very different from my day-to-day self. Writing out this description of my fantasy self shows me how unrealistic she is. Accomplishing even one of these bullet points is unrealistic. My fantasy self is leading me astray. I haven’t touched most of the items in my garage for years. My future-self is probably never going to do these hobbies and sports.

There is only one thing to be done. I need and want to declutter. It is time to toss the contents of the containers.

Doing this is tough. Do I transfer the containers (unopened) to the thrift store? Or do I sort through everything first? What would you do?

I am beginning in my storage closet and I am doing a combination of both. On the days I feel emotionally strong, I carry an unsorted container to my car and go straight to the thrift store. Other days I quickly sort the contents into two piles: a keep and a giveaway pile. Then I put all the keepers in a container to sort through at another time. I’ve given away seven containers of stuff using this second method. There are only four containers (of keepers) left in my storage closet. I plan on going through these items again to eliminate at least half.

Your Turn . . . What sports and hobby items do you use on a regular basis? . . . Were you surprised that kiddos play with so few of their toys?  . . . Who is in charge, you or your fantasy self?

Related Posts . . . 

• Decluttering My Fantasy Self – Video by Messy Minimalist
• Your Future Self Will Thank You for Today’s Action – Fruitfulwords

Day 16 –  31 Minutes of Decluttering – I worked in my storage closet. Luckily I had the strength and time to declutter for an hour.

Go here for the landing page with all the posts for MORE vs less: 31 Days of Decluttering. #write31days  . . . I am joining 100’s of bloggers who are determined to write every day in October on one topic. To read more about #Write31Days, go here.

Join me in this experiment of MORE vs less. If you’d like, you can join our private Facebook group that is encouraging one another in this task.

Related Posts . . . 

• DECLUTTERING MY FANTASY SELF – Video by Messy Minimalist
• Decluttering your fantasy self – Video by Adventures in Tiny Living
• Your Future Self Will Thank You for Today’s Action – Fruitfulwords