After my first concentrated effort to get rid of stuff, I have been asking myself what it is that I absolutely would want to keep and today I came up with a list:

• 
  clothing [including shoes] for work, play and dress up


• 
  my jewelry -- the good and junk jewelry


• 
  pictures and photo albums


• 
  tech -- the PC, the Kindle [would need to upgrade, organize and buy lots if I am getting rid of books], the iPad, the iPhone


• 
  Kula's stuff

I have been looking at the Tiny Houses for a year or so [the first one I saw looked exactly like Bag End and caught my fancy] and thinking about how it would be to live in one and be free of rent -- altho I am not quite certain why they are considered so upscale and a trailer [okay, "mobile home"] is considered low class.   A blog post about minimalism seemed to fit in well with my thinking too:

Minimalism is a conversation. Minimalism isn’t about getting rid of all your stuff and living with barely anything. In a family, minimalism is really a conversation about what’s important. What’s necessary. Why we own things and do things.

OTOH:  At the moment?  I have a lot of stuff.  I have shelves and shelves of books and DVDs -- more than I can read or watch in a year.  I have too many clothes -- two closets and a coat closet in the hall and I still am using the master bedroom bathroom as a makeshift closet too.  All that work in the DA and I still have a half room full of stuff -- mostly old papers, souvenirs and Christmas decorations - to go through.

OTOH:  But while all those books and knick-knacks and souvenirs and stuffed animals and pillows really aren't necessary?  I like them and they make the place feel like home, it is comforting to have them around.



Yeah, I'm not going minimalistic anytime soon.....