Discardia: A Holiday for Unclutterers

Monday, the 21st, marks the return of Discardia, one of my favorite holidays. I first learned about Discardia two years ago from a post on Jeri Dansky's popular blog; the full story (which is definitely worth reading) is at the website of Dinah Sanders, who came up with the amusing idea for this clever holiday in 2002.

Although it's celebrated throughout the year (between the solstices and equinoxes and their following new moons), the celebration nearest to Christmas is particularly worth noting. I've posted about the spirit of the Discardia in the past, but the basic principle is that it's a time of letting go of unnecessary things, "things that no longer add value to your life." That requires a significant change in the way we think about our possessions. What better time to reexamine the value of possessions than during a holiday season in which the focus too often is on mindlessly giving stuff to other people who probably really don't need it?

I love giving thoughtful presents so I'm not advocating abandoning the practice. I'm just very fond of the idea of using this time to let go of lots of my excess stuff, too. Also, the end of my year-long, 365 Item Toss Uncluttering Challenge is looming, so I've used Discardia to help me make sure I met my goal -- and I have. I've even exceeded it: 486 items have been donated, recycled, re-gifted or sold in the past year! You can get more details about the challenge here on the original blog post (updates are in the comments).

If you celebrate Discardia, you'll find that what you're really doing is giving yourself a gift: freedom from too much stuff!

(c) 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

The Movie Santa Doesn't Want You To See!

Christmas is a tricky time for unclutterers. It makes us painfully aware that we're swimming upstream as far as the general society is concerned, although the tanked economy currently is making that swim quite a bit easier. But even the most confirmed unclutterer is not necessarily a grinch. Except for the ascetics among us, we'd all agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with stuff; the primary issue is the quantity of stuff that so many of us have. True, most of us who advocate living with fewer rather than more possessions would prefer to keep the tangible holiday gifts to a minimum, but that doesn't mean we don't have the spirit of the season. And yet, how does one keep the "correct" balance during a time that's so focused on giving -- or, more accurately, buying?

Bill Talen, aka "Reverend Billy," offers one answer in What Would Jesus Buy? Produced in 2007 by Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame, this documentary film tackles the commercialization of Christmas but has a larger focus on the general excesses of consumerism, too. Talen, a genuinely concerned consumer, is also a comedic performance artist who resembles a younger Jerry Lee Lewis. He travels the nation as a preacher from the Church of Stop Shopping. The Reverend warns of the coming Shopocalypse: "the end of mankind from consumerism, overconsumption and the fires of eternal debt." He exorcises demons at the corporate headquarters of that well-known small business crusher, Wal-Mart. He and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir put on a rousing good show everywhere from small churches to the Mall of America (surely a place of worship for shoppers), but the message is legitimate: buy less and give more; buy locally; reduce, reuse, recycle. And buy with awareness. Who made the product? Where? At what cost to the environment? Under what labor conditions?

All of these issues are important, even urgent, but sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the seriousness of our concerns and lose the joy of the season and the fun of giving. Sometimes the message has a greater impact when the messenger makes us think and laugh, as Reverend Billy does.

If you live near Greenfield, Massachusetts, you can see the show at the Christmas Revival on December 19th. You can see the Reverend Billy's recent interview on CNN here.

Does the Reverend speak to you?

(c) 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

Manhattan's Smallest Home

Recently I've noticed quite a few print and on-line articles about small homes. I can only hope that this reflects our society's increasing comfort level with decreasing living space. But this article in the New York Post features the smallest home I've seen that has truly captured my imagination. In fact, had I known it was on the market, I could have been greatly tempted by the opportunity to buy it, even though it's on the opposite coast in Manhattan. Have you ever heard of a place in the city that cost only $150,000? A parking space, maybe, or a broom closet. Ah, well, it turns out that "broom closet" pretty aptly describes it.

On 110th, between Broadway and Amsterdam, sits a pre-war, sixteen-floor co-op building, with a doorman. On the top floor, there is a very tiny room that used to be one of several maids' quarters back during the building's previous configuration. At ten feet wide and less than fifteen feet long, this miniscule studio has space for a bed, a kitchen with mini-fridge and hotplate. There's also a three-foot by nine-foot bathroom (obviously no tub, just a shower, sink and toilet).

The reason this little broom closet might have been such a fabulous buy for an out-of-towner is that it could be used like a hotel room and make a bi-coastal (okay, fantasy) life possible. But what would it be like to live there?

Owners Zaarath and Christopher Prokop think it's great. They even share it with their two cats. Granted they use local dry-cleaning establishments as closets and never cook a meal at home, and I'm certain they keep all of their work-related paraphernalia in their offices, but it's still a stretch for me to imagine squeezing the complete lives of two adults into such a restricted space.

Day after day after day.

Even in the winter when it's freezing outside.

Or during a bout of the flu.

With cats!

Nope. I'll have to pass.

Could you do it? Take a look at the slide show here.

© 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

Photo Credit: © Nikolai Sorokin Dreamstime.com