I don’t know why I thought moving this time would be easier than last time. What is it about moving that is so incredibly enervating? I’m not even doing that much — lovely Erik is doing all the furniture-disassembling and car-loading — but I feel like I have no energy at all. I sit around like a zombie when I’m not packing things, and when called upon to talk to strangers or reply to phone messages or whatever, my thoughts (if any) feel utterly scattered. I’m grubby and hungry and hot, and there is STUFF all over EVERYTHING, in spite of our several trips back to San Jose already and all our packing and packing. All my decluttering over the past few months has apparently been for naught. Why do I still have so many things?!*
I must remember for the new place:
1. Do not buy multiples of things when you really only need one. One hand lotion, one foot lotion, one body lotion. One set of soft art pencils and one set of hard. One fabulous vintage winter coat. (Ha. Now we’re getting unrealistic!)
2. Do not buy excess of things for which you only need multiples. You do not need four very similar jersey hoodies, even if you do enjoy choosing which one to wear every morning. You would not need three sets of measuring spoons if you would just wash them each time you used them. You do not need two dozen bleeping tealights.
3. Do not long for things that don’t fit into your lifestyle. You could really get rid of all your high heels except two pairs (one light and one dark) to wear with fancy short dresses.
4. Do not accumulate books that you will not reread or use for reference.
5. If you use it less than twice a year, consider getting rid of it and finding another way to fill the need.
6. If you have it, USE it. Now, not “someday when I have more time/space/energy.” Otherwise get rid of it, and savor the regret (if it comes) as a meditation exercise!!
7. If you’re thinking of getting rid of it, do it immediately.
We’re planning to be out of here by early next week, but my head spins every time I try to visualize that end point. We still have to pack up so many things, give away what’s left, clean everything, and run so many errands. Sigh.
*Universal cry of the person-packing-to-move.
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
good luck with the rest of the move!!
awwwwwww i’m so sorry!! i FEEEL your pain. your list is great!! i have definitely adopted alot of that mindset that you outline in your list. it was not easy! i am a collector. i’m not messy about it, but maybe that’s the artist in me. i like to keep stuff and use it again “one day” :). ironically, i’m married to an avid anti-crap-collector. we also only live in 1,000 sq ft of house so we have had to get rid of alot of things because there’s no place to store it. so, having said all that, here is one more to add to your list- it’s a mindset that mike has taught me that has really helped me alot (because we used to have these conversations that went like this: “you gave that away/threw that away?? what?? but why!!” “because we weren’t using it, we don’t need it, and we don’t have the space to store it” “but WHY!!!”) he said: “i would rather that someone else get to use it and enjoy it, than have it sit unused and collect dust in our house. when that ‘one day’ comes around and you _really_ need that one thing, you can go buy it again.” i think he was banking on the fact that my “one day” would never really come!!! 🙂 i can laugh at it now, but OH Lisa, i have stories of our first few years of marriage when we would fight over “keeping or tossing” stuff. it sounds so silly in retrospect. and even better, out of all the things we have given away in the past (and we’ve given alot of stuff), there’s only one thing i regret giving away. now i have an area that i get to keep all my random “one day” collection. i just have to make sure that it doesn’t get too out of hand! 🙂 – alison
Re: good luck with the rest of the move!!
Alison, I love your advice and story!! And it’s so reassuring to know you’ve only regretted one of the things you’ve given away. Having a designated area for someday stuff is a brilliant idea. I’ll have to try that in the new house.
I love to collect things too, always have ever since I was really little. In my SJ bedroom I have these dried flowers from waaaaay back sometime in high school. They’re actually wonderful dried flowers (not weird and shriveled looking like dried roses) and I keep thinking I’m going to mount them someday in a shadow box. Maybe as artists we have more of an eye for what things might someday become! And yeah, I’m not messy about it either — we have all these boxes and bins and everything is neatly labeled.
I guess there’s always something to fight about when you first get married. 😉 For us it was the dishes… crazy isn’t it? Who did them, who didn’t do them, who felt like a martyr for doing them, etc etc.