Welcome! The Why and What of Thneedless to Say

Getting Clogged by the Stuff

As I approach 50 and see how psychologically and professionally "clogged" I am getting, I recognize more clearly how the accumulation of stuff in my home is a mental health problem that is only going to get worse. I have a spacious house that has several rooms that just store this cherished stuff. 10 years ago, we moved into this house, and I still have several large plastic tubs of the papers I scooped from my previous home office for moving into my new one. Upon arrival in the new home office, I was going to sift through and organize these cherished papers. I did nothing of the sort. I somehow set up a new office and began generating new piles that sufficed. The old pile, cozy in its bucket in the next room, is a time capsule of who and what I was (in terms of the papers I produce) in 2013-2014.  I have many other piles of things that I am keeping, but why?  

I am sure there is a great book or TED talk on hoarding or whatever we're calling it now.  But I can see how my piles increasingly just confuse and frustrate me.  Soon, they will immobilize me.

So, I making a blog, which I will use to first reflect on my cherished things and then, hopefully I will pass the cherished things along to others who may actively appreciate them more than I do.  

Is it possible to be a content person without a lot of stuff?  Who am I without my crowded nest of piles of papers and tubs of my grandmother's mumus? 

I hold no illusions that I will do this quickly or that I will suddenly emerge from this process a person who travels light. I believe it will be easier to let go of things like clothes, furniture, utensils, and art.  It is paper that tantalizes me.

***

Why this Blog?

And why Thneedless to Say?  Well, you all have been there.  You want to start a blog, but you don't know what to call it.  I have been thinking about this blog idea for at least a year, and I have come up with blog titles before....they are lost now.  When I sat down, "I need a thneed" ran through my mind.  Without looking it up and verifying it (I'll lean into the blissful ignorance of pre-internet life when we didn't look everything up before speaking), I seem to recall that thneeds were things in a Dr. Seuss book that everyone just had to have. They were things people bought loads of (like a weird garment?) and that caused environmental degradation. I don't see my hoarding of my things as an environmental issue primarily, but that element is also there, for sure.  Hopefully, as I move forward in life, I can resist the pull of accumulating more things for many good reasons. 

In addition to their significance as products that result in massive environmental damage, thneeds were also symbols of the useless things we often accumulate. So, by calling my cherished things thneeds, I am perhaps taunting myself into letting them go. Perhaps each blog post will allow me one final outpouring and capturing of the loving feeling I think I have for the thing/thneed. The blog posts may reveal the history and other gooey human aspects of a person and her things things.  And, the posts will help me understand myself. So, there are some benefits to me in "processing" my things in this way.  

I hope to become increasingly Thneedless, and this blog is about the saying that goes with that progress. 

Let the Thneedletting begin!