Perception.

To lighten the load, I've been doing three things:

(a) Giving Things Away
This has been nice to do, and I believe has a lot more meaning. There are books I've given away to friends because I think they'll enjoy it, and I can share a little bit of the joy I got from reading that book, with them.

For clothes, and some other things, I've been donating them them to MINDS. The Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) has four thrift shops around the island where they sell donated items. They also have their trainees with intellectual disability tend to customers and to handle the job of sorting and tagging the sale items. I really liked giving to them, and was a more personal than giving to The Salvation Army. 

(b) Selling Things
I've been putting items up on Carousell. Sometimes, it's a pain in the butt, but other times, I've been able to sell a thing or two! It's funny how getting $5 or $10 is so fun, and it's gives me some satisfaction that I got some money back from something that someone now has a use for!

(c) Throwing Things Away
Some things, you just can't do anything with - empty boxes, random trinkets, dusty things that have no value. You can't sell it or give it away, but you keep it for one reason or excuse. Getting rid of those things and seeing the clean, clear, empty space can be a wonderful things.

It's so interesting how having less things and items in life can be so freeing!

I'm not going to stand on a pedestal and say that buying or hoarding things is a bad thing. People find their happiness and relax in different ways. But, as I've cleared my cupboards and shelves, it's been so nice to have less things to have and lose. I spend less money buying things that I don't need. Instead, I can save and invest that money, or I can use it for experiences - travel, meals with friends etc.

I've been working to follow this more minimalist track. There's a book and a show that have really inspired me - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. 

I really do aspire one day to have 5 pairs of shirts and 2 pairs of jeans and 2 pairs of shoes etc. It'll take a bit of time, and for practical reasons, I might not get exactly to that, but I'm excited to get somewhat close to it. The funky thing is, no matter how much I get rid off, there seems to be more! Well, one day I'll get there.

A luggage full of things to be given away