AndrewBrunelle.com

We all accumulate clutter from frivolous purchases, like that new GPS navigator that is more trouble than it is worth.  But many of us don’t know what to do with all of the clutter around us.  I know that sometimes I look at what has accumulated and am suprised because I had no idea how fast clutter could creep up on me.  But clutter is not a positive in any way.  A cluttered life causes a lot of stress.  Visual clutter can be very distracting.  So what can we do to rid ourselves of clutter?

Ask yourself one question:  Have I used this item in the past year?  If the answer is no, it is a safe bet you can either throw it out or give it away.

Break your emotional attachment to sentimental items:  If you want, you can take a picture of it and store it on your computer.  Sure, that Raggedy Ann doll may have priceless memories attached to it, but does that truly justify keeping it around when you could photograph it digitally and put it on your computer?

Realize how nice the uncluttered look looks:  When everytyhing is in its place, then you can finally relax and not swayed by cumbersome distractions like having socks all over your bedroom floor.  Think of the inner peace you will experience once your house is in complete order.

Escape materialism:  Every time you buy a new item, you need to find a place to put it.  And since most things people buy become a burden, I encourage you to make sure that each item you buy is something that you will use on a regular basis, like a blender or a desk.  Go for quality and not the best deal because if you skimp on the price now, it will come back to bite you in the end.

Learn to enjoy the minimalist look:  The old adage that “Less is more” applies here.  Sure, you may not have as much, but the things you do have mean more to you because you’ve consciously chosen them.  Each item has a specific value attached to it and this makes them all invaluable.

When it doubt, throw it out (or give it away).

I guess decluttering is becoming quite a big field lately, due to all the things we all accumulate over time.  My advice is to go about it in small chunks, decluttering each room or part of a room day by day.  If it takes you a month, it takes you a month.  But in one month, you will have an organized house that has way more space than it did before for new things you wish to bring in that will actually mean something to you.

I recently streamlined all my supermarket club cards onto a single small piece of paper. I did it with the help of a new website known as JustOneClubCard.com. I taped the piece of paper to the back of my Jimi Wallet and now I don’t need to have all those cards cluttering up my key ring. The only store I believe that is not featured on the website to create a barcode is Blockbuster. Therefore, it is the only card I have left on my key ring. Of course, many stores let you use your phone number, but not all of them. The ones that do that are in my area don’t even warrant having any barcode with me because I always have the option of remembering one simple number.

Since I work in a grocery store, I see some of the most cluttered key rings in existence. Some of the people who have these cluttered monstrocities look like they could be dungeon masters. I currently only frequent four stores right now, so I do not need more than that many cards, but for those of you who frequent more than eight stores, you may need to print out multiple cards from the website linked above.

I just thought I would mention this tidbit of information today because if you are looking for more room in your wallet or on your key ring, it is vital for you to check out that website and see how well you can streamline your card clutter.

Edit:  This post was originally scheduled for earlier this month but I could not seem to find a camera to show how the whole setup is for my keyring.  Possibly in the future I will find our digital camera and take picture of the whole setup.

This is not going to be an overly extended post, but it is just a thought on how to control impulse spending and also how to spend less while attracting abundance. I recently bought these Moneybands from this great website, linked previously. They are very nice and keep both my money and my cards secure, so secure it is quite a challenge to get them out. This is the main reason I bought them. If you trap your money in a place where it is hard to get to, then you will be more reluctant to spend it. It even encloses all your credit and debit cards in the dead center of this pile of money so that there is no way that you could just put it on your card real quick. Now, when I carry it around, I am rather hesitant to make a purchase that would make my life so inconvenient as to take the rubber band off, sift through the bills for the right one, and then clumsily hand the bills to the cashier, while digging in my pocket for change. If I know I am going to be spending money for sure, I take the amount out of the trap and use that in another pocket so that if I overspend at all, I’ll need to go into the trap again.

Don’t get me wrong, spending money is a form of giving, but when you are spending on things you do not need and will probably not use, it helps to have a way to stop this impulse, or as Fight Club would call it, the Ikea nesting instinct. I had bought two Jimi wallets and a couple leather ones before I settled on these extremely inexpensive rubber bands. And if you want to go super low-tech, I recommend a celery rubber band. You know, the one that holds the celery together in the supermarket. It works almost as well as these longer-lasting rubber bands. But if you buy enough celery, you are probably better off just sticking with those.

And I have to say that this has helped me monitor my spending significantly. But if I really want something, and I mean really want it, I will go through the painstaking process of removing my money from this trap and fumbling around for the exact change. Sure, using a debit or credit card is so much easier, and that is the problem. I hope someday we go back to gold, so that way, in order to purchase something of great value, we would need a pickup truck. Anyway, just a thought I was having while not buying a tempting item. I hope you got something out of this. If not, I’ll have another article soon.

In this quest to simplify my life and my environment, I am often met with resistance. For example, the other day I came across the new Apple MacBook Air. It is by far the thinnest notebook laptop I have ever seen and it looks like something I could see myself owning. I’ve always said the next laptop I get will be much smaller and much better at wireless, and this is exactly what this computer is. The only problem is that it costs almost $2000. Also, this laptop works fine, although it would be nice to buy something new. Something that only weighs three pounds. Something that fits into a large yellow envelope. If I do plan to get this new item, I will need to save for it. The only potential problem I see with it is that I will need to adjust to a new operating system. A one-button mouse. Maybe I only want it because of the emotional high I will get when I make the purchase, and then the additional high I will get when I take it out of the box. Every time I buy something, that is what happens. I get a short-lived feeling of being high, and then I go back to normal. Everything I buy loses its novelty after a couple of days. I just need to remind myself I have everything I need. Everything.

Everything turns to dust anyway. Everything I ever buy or have bought will be nothing but ashes and dust after we are all gone. I believe it is the acknowledging the triviality of it all that scares us the most. That all the products we define ourselves by will be gone in less than 1000 years. The Earth will be gone in some 5 billion years. Even our sacred planet will not last forever. So now I get it. I get why some people smoke or drink or do drugs. It’s because they never want to face that fact. That, from the universe’s perspective, it is all meaningless and the only meaning in life is the one you give it. And it’s just too easy to ignore this fact. There are a million distractions from this real truth. And we will pay top dollar for them. And you wonder why baseball players get paid so much.

All these distractions are like drugs for us. It is our resistance to facing the real world. It keeps us blissfully ignorant. And sometimes we’d rather have it that way. But most times, I believe it is better to face what is real than watch another episode of The Office. It is better to be at peace with yourself and the universe than to watch one of those crime dramas. Most entertainment is shallow. But it is meant to be that way. It grabs our attention just enough to pull us away from our problems. Just like purchasing items. Just like drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. These are all just ways for us to resist the present moment.

And resistance is futile. It will impact our health. It will destroy our lives. It will do anything to try and wake us up again, but most people don’t want that. Most people would rather remain in a fantasy world. And that’s fine, if that’s what you want. I am not here to make your decision for you. I am here to let you know that the “bread and circuses” is still going on. The dumbing down of America, of the world. Just look at any advertisement. Does it look like they are advertising to fully conscious people with their loud voices and flashy colors? Do you think someone who has a good grasp on reality will think a new blender or toaster will “change their lives forever?” It is so easy to exploit those who are so open to being exploited. This is why these companies love to market to kids. They can get through so easily. And it really is a shame that these people use children’s open-mindedness and ignorance due to lack of experience for their profit margins. But it is the world we live in.

So, the more I fight the resistance within me, I lead by example to others to fight the resistance within them. You are better off flowing downstream than upstream, and that is true. You may say it is easier to go with the flow than against it. And I totally agree with you. And my flow says simplicity. In order to flow downstream towards total simp.icity, I need to fight upstream against commerciallism and consumerism. I need to reject social norms and ridiculous customs I do not resonate with. I need to draw on millions of years of evolution by trusting my intuition and survival mechanisms that let me know when things are awry. I feel it is necessary because otherwise, what are we but mindless robots bending to the will of our corporate masters? If we want the corporations to have less power, the main thing we need to do is stop supporting them. Sure, these companies have loyalties to their stockholders to make a profit and I can understand that, but why do it in such a way as to manipulate the public? Why lie to people to make your products seem better? Why not just come clean? Why make unnecessary things seem necessary? Because they know people will buy into it to take their mind off of the truth. I guess now you can see why I find it so vital to defeat this resistance within you. The consciousness of the world depends on it.