ot. the life changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=Blogstar]People seem to be having to balance living to survive, living to live an enjoyable satisfying life, and pressure to live to be seen, as in ” keeping up appearances” . Maybe some people deal with all three pretty well but it’s impossible to tell who they are or realistically keep score. Impossible.

I am starting to immediately recognize “score keeping” attitudes and behavior. It is not a sign of superiority or correctness.[/quote]

malcolm forbes said he who dies with the most toys wins.

Just reading a bit about him. Appears he was a deeply closeted gay dude who liked faerie eggs.

probably he would’ve been a bigger winner if he could a just been himself

[FlyerInHi]

How about setting up a good example to be followed? Or following a good example?
It’s not so bad to study hard to become the teacher’s pet.

[CA renter]

[quote=flyer]It’s definitely true that “stuff” can own you, if you allow it to. Perhaps, as human beings, we tend to cling to “things” in order to validate our existence, and to give ourselves a greater sense of self worth.

Realizing that everything on earth is temporary–great to have while you’re here, and then pass it on–really puts the value of “stuff” into perspective for me.[/quote]

Apparently, hoarders keep things because they serve as reminders of precious times that they know they will never get back again. There are different types of hoarders, and the ones who shop and store new/unused things aren’t the type I’m referring to in this case. Some hoarders don’t store stuff that they buy brand new, they store stuff that reminds them of people — their children, parents, spouses, good friends who have left or passed away — or even good times, like when they were young and perhaps involved in something special like semi/professional sports, or modeling, or entertainment, etc.

I’ve seen perfectly normal people start to hoard things when they lost a spouse, child, or parent. They keep everything that has any kind of attachment to that person, and they treasure those things, even though it might be a broken bucket that their child used when s/he was a little boy, or newspapers or magazines that a now-deceased parent kept around the house. It’s pretty sad to listen to the stories that these people share about their past and what led them to their current way of living. In these cases, it’s not at all about keeping up with the Joneses, but of keeping a loved one’s memory alive.

[FlyerInHi]

When Jesus wandered the desert, he might have been a dirtbag, but he certainly didn’t own a lot of junk.

[scaredyclassic]

I once tried to go to church barefoot but the usher said no way dude. He wouldn’t engage with me on the issue. Fortunately I had a pair of paper thin pedicure sandals in the car.

I used to go to church on father’s day back when we did the Catholic Church thing. Was reading recently about a popes edict in the 1300s about killing all cats out of witchcraft concerns that led to the plague.

Hilarious! In a way.

[FlyerInHi]

I have been looking at real estate more lately.

My objective data shows that people of higher socio economic backgrounds are more tidy at least when it comes to showing their houses (and their own selves) to strangers.

I think that tidiness is a social skill that is conducive to economic success. That speaks to upbringing.

[CA renter]

You’re funny, brian! 🙂

Have you not seen the extremely rich, eccentric hoarders who rarely leave their homes? Seriously, they exist, and it’s not that rare.

What you might be seeing is the fact that wealthier people can afford to hire cleaning crews when selling their houses, and usually have maids come on a regular basis outside of that. Take that away, and then we can really compare.

[FlyerInHi]

CAr, I picture you as an accomplished housewife. You’re too kind to people who don’t live up to your standards.

In all seriousness, rich people who hire maids to clean for them still need to take affirmative steps to get it done. So they must value the end results of cleaning and tidying up.

I just bought at 475sf condo. You could not believe how the previous resident lived!! But that worked to my advantage. I will turn the condo into a European/Japanese style tiny gem of a house.

You know, whenever I go Ikea and I look at the model spaces, I think that Nordic people are more civilized. Everyone can have a fresh well-designed space on the cheap!!

[CA renter]

Thanks for the kind words, Brian, but I just know that we all have our various strengths and weaknesses. I try not to judge others for things other than major character flaws — usually sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies.

You and I seem to have similar tastes in furnishings and style. Simple, minimalist, easy-to-clean, and tidy are awesome in my book. But I’ve known some pretty awful people who live like that, and some pretty wonderful people who live in cluttered, messy homes filled with loving people.

While I would certainly favor working or living with clean people, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that messy people are less civilized or otherwise inferior to those of us who can be a bit OCD-ish. Quite frankly, I can be a nightmare to live with because of my innumerable rules and requirements (no shoes in the house, wash hands constantly for at least 20-30 seconds, clean up immediately after making a mess, dish towels or sponges for dishes only, counter sponges or rags for counters only, hand towels for hands only, etc., etc., etc.). My poor husband and kids! 😉

[FlyerInHi]

CAr, your house is the kind of house I’d feel comfortable visiting. Not poor husband and kids, lucky them!

Civilization is high technology and innovation, a sophisticated code of conduct, and channeling human behavior within a complex culture.

[scaredyclassic]

i remember my mom being really uptight about everything being really neat and clean. i remember her getting upset sometimes.

now that we’re gone everything is really neat and clean all the time.

i think she’d prefer the chaos in retrospect.

[FlyerInHi]

I doubt your mom prefers chaos. Maybe she misses her youth and the kids.

Her getting upset is a way of educating the kids. Messiness is a bad social behavior that can be highly upsetting to others.

[scaredyclassic]

from all that concern w ith order, i learned that i don’t care that much.

[FlyerInHi]

You live in a mansion suitable for weddings. Everyone has plenty of space.

If you had to squeeze your family in a 1000sf condo, you’d get pretty upset with disorder.

[scaredyclassic]

perhaps, and spend a lot of time and energy getting bent out of shape about how things tend to go, and then, later, thinkiing youd give anything to go back to the crazyhouse….

[Author]

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