The trail of breadcrumbs brings up a whole other semi-related can of worms: pack rat mentality and mindless consumerism (both of which I am extremely guilty of, but trying to change my ways).

I am in the process of trying to minimize my participation in mindless consumerism but i don't think i will be able to really begin in earnest until i get an ipod.

Inspired a while ago by T’s above statement, I began to think about how much crap I own. In addition to what I have amassed during my childhood and the following 14 years of adulthood, there is also the houseful of contents that I inherited when my grandmother died. I weeded out much of her 86 years of stuff down to what I’d like to keep, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a tub of things that I don’t necessarily want but still can’t bring myself to get rid of. Getting rid of someone else’s stuff, stuff that was important enough to them to keep, makes me extremely sad. The things I can’t get rid of that are mine are in that category because I associate them with some experience, and I hate to think that I am throwing away someone else’s important experiences. I have waaaaayyyy too many knick-knacks, home decor items, and raw materials to create both of those. For some reason I used to think these were important. Does everyone else have this much stuff? Do they love their things? I look at so much in my house and it’s just so unnecessary. Thank goddess yard sale season is here, cause I’m going to have a hum-dinger this year. (I know onchard-the-packrat is cringing somewhere.) I think that I can get rid of just about everything but the following three categories: books, cds, and dvds. Ok, so I can’t do that, but that is my ideal. These items in addition to letters and pictures, really hold the most memory associations for me, and I think I enjoy them more than anything else. For the most part, I’ve done well avoiding the thrift stores and yard sales this summer, though I actually had to make a physical effort not to stop a few Saturday’s ago. Anyone who has seen my collection of assorted Kennedy busts (copper, ceramic, soapstone) understands that I have a serious problem. I just can’t resist a quirky purchase. There are too many things in the world that I don’t need, especially since I won’t remember what the hell it was all about 50 years from now.

Have I learned nothing from “Fight Club”?

Viva minimalism!