Downsizing All Our Stuff

/ Leah

Stuff. So.Much.STUFF.

Before we decided to shift to a nomadic lifestyle, we were already planning a massive downsize. Because, like most Americans, we have way too much stuff. This house we’re about to leave is the largest space we’ve lived in, and over the 2 years we’ve been here, we’ve managed to fill every closet, every storage space, every shelf and nook with MORE STUFF. It’s ridiculous. Not to mention the 6 boxes of stuff we moved here from our last place and never got around to unpacking.

Enough is enough is enough of the stuff.

We would buy more stuff because we couldn’t find the stuff we already had. Then we would buy stuff to organize the stuff, but only ever halfway organize it and it would quickly descend into chaos again. We fought about which stuff to keep and which to throw out. We complained about having stuff everywhere. We would shove stuff in a room to tidy up when people would come over, only to have the room get full and more stuff replace the stuff that had once been in the kitchen or the living room. I would donate bags and boxes of stuff here and there, but there was always a new inflow.

So we decided to downsize significantly and move to a smaller space that we couldn’t fill up with as much stuff. And once we started getting rid of stuff, it was amazing how much lighter and better I felt. I got a rush out of clearing out cabinets and closets and drawers! And NOT keeping the stuff or re-organizing it, but just LETTING IT GO. Ohhh, I could taste the freedom.

And once we had gotten through a few rooms, we realized we could get rid of EVERYTHING (well, except some photo albums and a filing box of important papers, and a suitcase each of clothes) and be FREE of the burden of the STUFF.

Oh, sweet sweet freedom. Lightness. Expansion. Mobility! If we didn’t have all this stuff, we didn’t really need a space to keep it. We could rent other people’s furnished spaces instead, and we could go wherever we wanted. Anytime we wanted. For as long as we wanted.

That feels pretty amazing to those of us with nomad hearts, let me tell you.

Goodbye, hoarder days. Hello, open road. We’re replacing a house full of stuff we never really needed or wanted with all the things we DO need and want – connection, fun, love, laughter, adventure, nature. It’s not that we didn’t have that before, it just got lost in all the … stuff. We’re trading in excess for enough.

And it’s so much easier than I thought.

Leah

Leah is a lifelong adventurer, exploring the world while home/road-schooling her son (though often he's schooling her). An experienced Reiki practitioner, she offers healing-and-action sessions, developing personalized roadmaps to help others connect with their own deepest wisdom and guidance, and claim a life of authenticity and joy.

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