Maybe less really is more...

This is the new view I'm learning to embrace...that sometimes less can be more. For as long as I've known me, I've always been something of a pack rat. Not a hoarder, it's nowhere near that level, but I just...save...everything. I remember even as a kid, I would save candy, until I had bags of it. I don't do that anymore of course, but I do seem to collect, well, stuff. I have trouble throwing away things...clothes, mail, etc.

But when I started traveling for work, I had to leave a lot behind...only taking with me what I could fit in my truck. The first time I packed, I remember how miserable I was, trying to figure out what I would absolutely need, and what I could leave in storage. After the fifth contract (and fifth re-location), I've streamlined the process quite a bit. And in the process of streamlining the process, I've learned something. I don't really need all this stuff.

I realized that I've been living for nearly a year without all that stuff that I left behind in storage, and I haven't missed it or needed it. And if you can live without something for a year, do you really need it at all? Even the things that I take with me to each assignment, the things I thought I absolutely needed and couldn't leave behind, I've begun to consolidate. And I found that once I started to do this, I became more and more energized by the process. I went through clothes, shoes, boxes and boxes of stuff, making piles of all the things I've carted around with me for a year but haven't used. Sometimes it was easy, sometimes it wasn't. But I just kept telling myself that who really needs three white button-down shirts, or twelve pairs of workout shorts, or five pairs of strappy black summer heels. I had to admit, of all this stuff I had, I only really used a small percentage of it. And the mail, all the paperwork, every piece of paper that I thought might be of the most minute importance, I had filed away somewhere. But deep down I knew that I didn't really need the check stubs from three jobs and five years ago. The more I did this, the better I felt. Suddenly, I could breathe again.

That's not to say I don't like to shop for clothes and shoes, or that I don't still have a file of organized papers that I keep in a box. It just means I'm making smarter decisions about what I really need, and I'm replacing instead of adding. And not surprisingly, I'm finding that I get less overwhelmed in other areas of life as well. I guess when you clear out the clutter in one aspect of your life, it means you can handle more in other areas. Wait, this doesn't mean I'm growing up, does it?