Too much stuff!

Spending a month in Edinburgh changed me (and I think our family) in so many ways. We want to walk more, use public transportation more (when this is possible in Atlanta, which is hard,) go to more community events (we went to the BeltLine Lantern Parade this weekend,) etc.

One BIG thing we realized was that we have TOO MUCH STUFF! In Edinburgh, we had so few things with us. We stayed in an AirBNB 3-bedroom flat, and each kid had a suitcase and a backpack. My six-year old, as an example, only had two toys with him for the entire trip. And he was fine!

Then we came home and realized just how much stuff we have in our house. It’s insane how many things accumulate as life goes on. So my wife and I have decided, as a start to rectifying this problem, that everyone in our house will find 100 things to donate. We have a family of seven, so that’s 700 things that will be leaving our house soon.

My 48in48 partner and good friend, Adam Walker, just posted about a similar challenge he gave his family. Essentially everyone in his family can have no more than 150 personal items. Why 150?

The number is a bit arbitrary. I have been thinking about this for myself for a while. 100 personal items are too few, and 200 feels like overkill. 150 personal items feel like more than enough to me.

I also remember reading once that a person can only really know and connect with a group of about 150 people, this is known as Dunbar’s Number. Once the group of people is over 150, it becomes hard for a person to keep up with names, history or other personal information. It’s hard to make a meaningful connection with more than 150 people in a community. I figure it’s hard to make a meaningful connection with more than 150 personal items as well.

I love that approach, and it’s possible we’ll try something similar soon. But without a doubt, having less things is high on our list.