You don’t need something for everything. -Natalie Rans
Since living in a small studio, I’ve learned to minimize. It wasn’t an easy task, but I’ve come to a place where the less stuff I have, the better I feel. Passing down clothes to my cousin, throwing out old documents, and dropping off boxes at Goodwill have become some of my favorite pastimes.
I have a new philosophy for minimizing. I’m calling it “The Art of Consolidation”.
Yesterday I stumbled upon my old beach bag laying on the floor of my closet. I picked it up and instantly tossed it at the foot of the front door (that’s where I put all the stuff I want to get rid of, that way I’m sure to actually get rid of it).
In a moment’s notice I scurried back to the bag, second guessing my decision. All of a sudden that devious recurring thought had popped into my head “what if I need it one day”.
Caution: Do not let this sneaky statement get to you people!
Yes, it holds truth. At some point in the future when I’m going for a day at the beach and want to carry a towel, a book, my purse, sunscreen, a change of clothes, heck, even a volleyball all in one bag, it would be the perfect thing. Seeing as I don’t know now when that day will come, that “what if” statement is useless, and therefore should be ignored!
With my eyes closed, I took a deep breath and released the old sandy bag from my fingertips.
Then, it dawned on me “my backpack would be the perfect beach bag!”
I felt as though all my hoarder tendencies had drifted away and I was given a superpower – the ability to consolidate!
So many things we own could be utilized to do several different jobs.
When we first moved into the Square, I had to find ways to combine our home essentials to fit the space. Here are a few ways I consolidated our number of belongings:
Bedroom Dresser : TV Stand
Coffee Table : Dinner Table
Side Table : Pan Cupboard
Sweater Trunk : Bedside Table
Decorative Suitcase : Shoe Storage
I now know there’s even more stuff I could consolidate in order to better utilize our belongings and minimize our load.
Even today I thought of an easy one. I’ve been wanting to get a watering can, but in light of my new “philosophy” it seemed hypocritical. The plants have been watered fine without one the past months, what had I been using? Aha! The large blender attachment. It’s light weight, easy to carry, and can hold 72 ounces of water. So why did I want something else?
My dilemma wasn’t that the blender isn’t just as functional, but that it isn’t a watering can.
It’s easy to want the specifics; to feel like you need something for everything, but when you take a step back and look around at your belongings you’ll see that they have many different names.
Now my blender is not only that, but Mr. Water Can as well.
So back to my first thought: You don’t need something for everything.
Happy Consolidating!