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Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

nytimes.com

41–50 of 72 posts

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#41
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "ruthless" spring clean is a similar tradition in our household. Now, if only we hadn't bought all the stuff we "no longer care about" in the first place.

Want something? Bookmark it in a folder in your browser. Forget about it. Come back a couple weeks later. Still want it? Get it.

I do this with Amazon wishlists. The side benefit is that often things from that list end up as Christmas or birthday presents so I get to both stop buying so much myself, but receive some of them anyway.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#42
I have a pretty simple rule with my stuff, which works because I mostly live out of a suitcase. Since I kind of relocate somewhat often, almost all my belongings end up in boxes regularly. If something hasn't left a suitcase I have with me by the time I'm packing again, I sell/donate/chuck it.

If I'm in a place longer than 3 months, that's the other time I audit all my boxes and see if an item has been there since I moved in. I either try to put it to use right away (if I'd just forgotten about it) or get rid of it if it's not immediately useful. I am really ruthless with my stuff if I'm living in a big city or in the states, where I can re-acquire a similar item on short notice (nearby store or amazon) when needed.

Winter-wear is the only exception to this rule - a single thick jacket, pair of gloves and two sweaters stay in my possession despite not being used for months, for obvious reasons.

Edit: With this rule, I find I own less and less stuff every year, and I have rarely missed anything I've discarded due to this rule (I do miss things I had to discard for other reasons, like when I couldn't afford to reasonably transport my home theater system across continents).

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#43
post #11
post #10

Wouldn't it be incredible if this was the attitude of your average American?

Why? What are the "incredible" benefits that you imagine? This is about taking things that once brought you enough "joy" that you bought them and moving them from closets to landfills, probably making room to buy some more joy. I'm not saying that tidying up is a bad idea--I think it's a good idea--but I'm not sure what imagined consequences have filled you with such rapture.

Well, I’m not that guy, and I’m not sure I share his opinion, either, but I can imagine a few of the benefits he’s thinking of:

1. People who have fewer things are not as likely to be consuming a lot of things, so they may create less waste, which preserves energy, reduces landfill use, etc.

2. This attitude may contribute to an overall less materialistic society, which could mean things like fewer ads / web tracking (because there’d be less incentive for the advertisers)

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#44
This is crap. It's also not very Japanese... the assertion that your apartment already has all the organizational equipment you need is utter bullshit if you've ever visited or lived in an apartment in Tokyo (that costs less than 5k USD a month). Even in less crowded places, there's usually a practical need for extra shelving, hanging space, etc. in order to keep enough clothes and related items around unless you live alone and lead a rather spartan lifestyle. I'm currently managing it, but only barely, and with a bare minimum of... everything.

It doesn't help that consumption here is positively rampant. Without making a value judgement, I'll just leave it here that shopping is a major form of entertainment.

This is the same kind of self-improvement crap that sells so well in the US. Don't make the mistake of thinking Japan doesn't have it too.

So, really, the only objection I have here is the idea that it's a "Japanese art." That's marketing; effective marketing, but like most effective marketing, it's a lie. I got rid of most of my stuff to move here, which was actually one of my goals, and I'm very pleased with it; however, the "joy" tenet is misguided, and the general lack of space in Japan has NOT inspired minimalism. It's inspired clutter and the avoidance of the home as a place to entertain and relax.

Again: Not a value judgment. Just observations from an American living in Japan and surrounded by the culture and people this piece misrepresents.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 32 and have become less sentimental over time. I went through an aggressive cleaning spree about six months ago, and gave away about 1/3 of my belongings.

Older, and I want to get rid of everything.

Do it. I got rid of everything but a suitcase full of clothes, a couple laptops, and some books (less than a dozen). It's incredibly liberating.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Want something? Bookmark it in a folder in your browser. Forget about it. Come back a couple weeks later. Still want it? Get it.

I do this with Amazon wishlists. The side benefit is that often things from that list end up as Christmas or birthday presents so I get to both stop buying so much myself, but receive some of them anyway.

Me too. I add stuff to my wishlist throughout the year, then one month before Christmas and my birthday I go through and remove all the items I no longer want. Plenty stays on, of course, but plenty is also like "Ehhhh...I wouldn't actually do much with that", "Ehhh, I ended up seeing that elsewhere and don't care to own it", etc.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#47
post #12
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? What are the "incredible" benefits that you imagine? This is about taking things that once brought you enough "joy" that you bought them and moving them from closets to landfills, probably making room to buy some more joy. I'm not saying that tidying up is a bad idea--I think it's a good idea--but I'm not sure what imagined consequences have filled you with such rapture.

If you are mindful of the things that you have, you tend to acquire less of them.

Or more. After clearing out more space in your home, and thinking "mindfully" about what you like and don't like, you could just as easily become more interested in acquiring new things than if your home were already "full" and you weren't thinking about things. You could be right, and I'm somewhat curious to know, but I'm not aware of any evidence either way, and I'm skeptical that such certain claims may be based more on a fashionable type of utopian theory than on real-world evidence.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the same guy, but figured I might as well put this here. I've been living on what can fit in a suitcase for the past... year or so? Especially now that most of our valuable possessions — photos, writing, music, video — can be digitized, it's awfully liberating to pare your physical inventory down to the bare minimum. I'm doing this for travel purposes, but the end result is mostly the same, I think. http://www.ar…

I've been living out of a suitcase for the most part, but recently I've been developing my hobby of cooking, and now I'm anchored down by a huge pile of heavy, expensive kitchen items.

It's funny, but the kitchen is my main reason for thinking about getting a house now... I'm turning 40 at the end of the year, and though I had a house with an ex-wife, I was only there on the weekends for the most part. Though I like having a big entertainment center, I could live without it... and all the extra "stuff" I could easily pair down.

My kitchen, however is quite a bit different... I have the assortment of pots, pans, utensils and even gadgets that I actually use pretty regularly. I'm actually about out of space in my kitchen now, and thinking it might be time to look into getting a house again. That, or might get a nice armoire or wardrobe to expand my storage near the kitchen with.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this with Amazon wishlists. The side benefit is that often things from that list end up as Christmas or birthday presents so I get to both stop buying so much myself, but receive some of them anyway.

Me too. I add stuff to my wishlist throughout the year, then one month before Christmas and my birthday I go through and remove all the items I no longer want. Plenty stays on, of course, but plenty is also like "Ehhhh...I wouldn't actually do much with that", "Ehhh, I ended up seeing that elsewhere and don't care to own it", etc.

I also like going back to them occasionally and realizing I could buy everything on my wishlist for $1000 or whatever. I still don't though :-)

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Want something? Bookmark it in a folder in your browser. Forget about it. Come back a couple weeks later. Still want it? Get it.

I do this with Amazon wishlists. The side benefit is that often things from that list end up as Christmas or birthday presents so I get to both stop buying so much myself, but receive some of them anyway.

Stop doing presents for christmas and birthdays too then, and make it clear you dont want them.
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