18-02-24

There is nothing scornful of your life if you keep buying and disposing. We are human. We want to feel secure and count on owning things that money can buy.

I am moving house this month. I have lived by the sea for more than 30 years. I yearn for some ‘fresh’, if not refreshing, air around the bustling city.

Moving home is nightmarish when it comes to packing my belongings especially old things—that I am sentimentally attached to. Objects can hold memories and emotions, and getting rid of them can make me feel that I am destroying a part of my past. I fear ‘fear’ too, the fear of letting go, of the loss of a possession and of the unknown relating to replacing it with another thing.

One thing makes old people unique: time. The older you are, the more time you have had to accumulate things. Sadly, as death is approaching, we should try to create ease and space for our life. Nothing is as important as gradually throwing un-needed, though much wanted, stuff away. It is wise for us to control things before life will soon be out of our control. I have been keeping too many things that I did not bother to take a look at, let alone use them.

Guilt is one of the hardest feelings between the ready us and the reluctant us to throw away things. I have learnt a few lessons this time. Don’t give up too many things and at least keep 50% of what you do not want in order to make yourself less nervous. Learn to dislike an item when it can remind you of the stupid mistake of buying it in the first place. Make a generous gift of things to your friends, building caretakers or office colleagues who desire to take over your possessions. Donate anything that charitable organisations may want. You can support the cause of helping those in need. Think about the joy of decluttering and your stress-free life will bring; and also the beauty of minimalism that your home may acquire.

The Japanese developed a philosophy called ‘mottainai 勿体無’. The principle is to ask people to ‘reduce, re-use and re-cycle’.

It encourages us to stop buying things and make good use of what we presently have. I can buy less but cannot stop buying. So, the new Japanese theory of ‘斷•捨•離 (break, abandon and depart)’ is right for my aptitude. Removing unnecessary things from my life is now the best timing when I have to declutter for my new place.

From now onwards, whenever I buy in future, I will get rid of one thing in my house and later, perhaps 2 items, 3 items and 4…till everything in my house only has one of its kind. Less is more and emptiness is the best.

‘Carousell’ is a web-based online marketplace for people to sell second-hand stuff. I tried but all the hassles involved in the process including the delivery of the goods to a buyer put me off. Donation is the great solution.

Hong Kong government will soon impose the ‘charge-per-bag’ arrangements, residents will have to pay for each litre of garbage that they throw away. It is now the right thing and the right time to dispose of what you do not need; before you have to pay.

Let us all reduce the complexity of survival by having a rich life that is simple. One day, ‘you are left only with what you love, with what is necessary and what makes you happy’. Sounds good?

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