Possessions and their meaning - Happier at Home chapter 1

Possessions have value only by the meaning you place on them.  What possessions do you own that you value more than anything and would be unwilling to let go?  In Gretchin Rubin’s, Happier At Home, she explores this thought of having possessions and the meanings we give to them.  She looks at both sides of the spectrum from not having any possessions and living a “simple life” to having many things.  She likes the idea of a “simple life” but she also knows that her possessions bring her pleasure and sides on the idea of having possessions that have meaning and bring happiness into your life.  She says, “Because I had stuff I didn’t want or need, it felt like I’d be happier with less, but it wasn’t the amount of stuff, it was the engagement with that stuff.”  The goal she made was to remove the things that didn’t matter and make room for more of the things that did.  Her advice is to go shelf-by-shelf to increase your feelings of engagement with the possessions that have meaning and therefore, bring more happiness.

I decided to take this advice and focused on my closet.  At first glance I couldn’t find anything that didn’t have some meaning to me, photo albums, books, clothes, etc.  Then, I saw a pile of bins with makeup that I’ve collected over the years but haven’t used in years.  I threw the old makeup and skin cleaners away.  I was saving them for “just in case” I will use them “someday,” however I knew that “someday” wasn’t going to happen.  It felt good to remove these pieces from my closet.  They had no meaning to me except that I spent money on them and I “should” use them.  The only problem with that thinking is that I was holding onto stuff that didn’t have a valuable meaning.  Basically they were making me feel guilty for buying them and not using them.  What possessions do you have that you are willing to let go of because they lack meaning in your life?