Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Integration
No, I’m not discussing race relations, much as they bear discussion. I’m talking about integrating your stuff. As someone who tries not to buy things, I am usually pretty excited when I get something new. As soon as I get home I delight in integrating my new purchase into its new environment. I recycle any wrapping (rarely is there a bag because I have my own), I put the receipt on my desk to be filed or shredded, and then I get to put it away. Whether it is a new carrot peeler (the last one died from overuse) or a new dress (no excuse), I love to find it a logical spot, weeding to make room if necessary, and put my new acquisition in its new home.
So it’s always surprising to me when I am with a client and we come upon bags containing brand-new things that have never been put away. Yet this not uncommon; in fact it occurs frequently. At first, I couldn’t understand it: If you bought something, didn’t you by definition need or at least want it? Why buy something if it’s going to live in a bag at the bottom of your closet?
Years later, I have realized that there are two things that are happening in this situation. The first is that the person doesn’t really want or need the item, but they are after the thrill and the adrenaline rush of buying. Therefore, after the purchase is complete, they loose interest and the new thing is abandoned. The second, which can happen in conjunction with the first, is that they feel conflicted about the purchase. Either they know in their heart of hearts that they don’t need whatever it is and they are just buying it for the thrill, or they feel that they have spent too much money, so if they don’t unwrap it; it’s as if they didn’t purchase it. This is ridiculous, of course, because the solution would be to return the purchase, not leave it to gather dust in a corner.
People do the same thing with vegetables. They’re at the grocery store, the produce looks great, and they have a dream of a healthy week of homemade, lo-cal, vegetarian fare. They get home, deposit the stuff in the fridge and there it sits. Until it wilts.
I don’t want people to live like ascetics. Enjoy: buy, cook, dress, eat! I just want people to commit to their purchases, to “own” them in both the literal and figurative senses. Hang up your new skirt! Make a place in the medicine cabinet for your new eye cream! And I promise that if you wash and spin that arugula today, tomorrow your dream salad will be quicker to make than a microwaveable burrito.