Tuesday, June 5, 2007

i used to say, "the more tragic, the better"

I don't always read footnotes. Sometimes they are uninteresting, but sometimes they really add to what I'm reading. And sometimes I don't really care where the information came from. But when the information isn't available is when I miss it.

I am an avid reader of Oprah's magazine. As discussed in a previous post, her show makes me want to eat for unknown reasons, but I love the magazine. In this month's, she has a little blurb from some guy names Chris Hedges in the Million Ways to Save the World section (page 79 for anyone interested). He talks about faith and how any faith that involves a loving God cannot encourage or support violence. Cool. But the he says this:

Finally, remember that Jesus taught us there are two ways to be rich: We can amass wealth or have few needs. Defy the consumer culture. Live simply.


I would like to have specific instances in the Bible to support this, but I totally buy it (buy it! ha!) and I believe that I have been feeling the tug to begin to live my life more in this manner. I have realized that our house is just too big for the two of us. Heck, we can have 4 houseguests and not even know they are here. We have accumulated so much stuff over the 2 years we have been in this ginormous house. And it's starting to feel like a weight to me. Live simply, Krissie.

I just finished reading Branded, and I feel guilty for buying anything at anywhere other than a thrift store. (But do you ever see plus sized clothing in a thrift store? Seriously.) Now I'm reading Nickel and Dimed and feel an even greater tug to use what I have more wisely. I have never had to call agencies and try to find where my next meal would come from. I have never had to scrub someone's floor. Especially not when they were watching me.

So I have too much stuff. I have books that I haven't opened in 10+ years. I probably have 25 purses, and shoes that I never wear, and boxes of clothes (that have tags and are multiple sizes too small), and 2 sewing machines, and boxes of who-knows-what. And, what do I plan to do about this? I purge. (Stuff, not food.)

That's right. I'm getting rid of my crap. It feels like shedding something. Like getting rid of the stuff will somehow help me get rid of all the weight (figuratively and literally) that I carry around with me all day. How can I expect my head and my body to make sense when I have closet doors that I don't want to open. My house and my stuff are in someway a representation of the me I am: clean and organized upon first look, but a mess once you start opening up the closet doors and looking in the corners.

So my plan:

  • I am upping the anty on the contest. Not only will the 5 lucky winners (and right now only 5 contestants!) receive a "Kick off the Covers" cd of my own creation, but 2 bonus items. I'm not talking crappy stuff that no one wants. Things like books related to diet/food, maybe a nice handbag (I love Vera Bradley!), my mom makes her own candles and I have a ton of them, picture frames with my photography, things like that. Personal stuff. The stuff I would be putting in your gift boxes are the things that I am reluctant to part with, the things that I want to go to people who know me. And the fact that you read my blog shows that you know me. It's not too late to register! Respond to this post!

  • I am starting the Core Plan with Weight Watchers when I get back from Kansas. That may sound like an excuse, but it is a plan. I will continue writing down what I eat and exercising every day until the trip. I do well enough making point-friendly choices on vacation, I think trying Core would push me over the edge and cause me to throw up my arms in defeat.

  • I will clean out a closet a week until the move. I will leave no stone unturned, no box unopened. I have the goal of gifting/donating/throwing away 2/3 of my current belongings. If I haven't used it in a year, it's gone. (Goodbye masses of Clinique free gift makeup bags!)

Thank you for listening and good night.

(Footnote: Nathan thought this post should be titled, "This town needs an enema!" I initially agreed. But, upon further consideration, I thought that it was obnoxious in big letters. I also didn't like the departure from song lyrics to movie lines. I mean, if I was doing movie quotes, every title would have something to do with brake pads or turning into toads. Nathan then suggested the song for the title, and it was successful. He was also very gassy during the entire conversation.)

3 comments:

Aimee said...

LOL! I had to laugh at Nathan's title. :) I hear ya on getting rid of stuff. I have too much stuff too. I hold onto stuff thinking "one day I'll use this" when in reality I won't. I've been known to get rid of stuff and then 6 months later wish I hadn't, so who knows. I can sit here and look around this room and just point out things I don't even need anymore, but knowing me, I'll hold onto them anyway. LOL! I think moving is a good time to downsize though. I'm thinking about moving next year. I guess I'll de-clutter and downsize then. :)

I read the past few days of your posts (I just decided not to comment on all of them due to time). I just wanted to say I really enjoyed them. Oh, and let me know what you think of the Core plan when you get back. I've been considering changing over to it for a couple of weeks just to see if I can get myself going again (and eliminate all of the junk I've been eating).

Even though you gained, don't look at it as a gain, just look at it as a new beginning. Sometimes we just need to start fresh. I have weigh in tomorrow morning, and I'm pretty sure I'll be looking at a gain this week (I went to Michigan for a few days and ate whatever I wanted and I've had trouble getting my focus back). I considered skipping, but I'm going to go and face the music. I've got to get serious about this, and I just haven't been.

We can both do this!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for reading and commenting on my journal. :) I hopped on over here to read yours after you mentioned the Core plan. I just wrote a new post on my blog about why I choose Core and why I like it. Maybe it would give you some motivation to read about it?

Good luck with it when you decide to switch to it. I saw that you said you were going to try when you got back from your trip. :)

Mindy said...

I was feeling all smug as I read this since I am after all wearing my 'new' dress from Goodwill. But then I realized one recycled dress can't make up for the loads of crap I have sitting around my house too. I have magazines out the wazoo and then I buy old issues of Rachel Ray off ebay?? I need to purge my house as well.

I laughed out loud at the last sentence :)