Talk About Down-sizing

Came across this in Time magazine and now found it online. It is a movement sweeping the nation (or sweeping out the closets):

Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can become oppressive. With all this stuff piling up and never quite getting put away, we're no longer huddled masses yearning to breathe free; we're huddled masses yearning to free up space on a countertop. Which is why people are so intrigued by the 100 Thing Challenge, a grass-roots movement in which otherwise seemingly normal folks are pledging to whittle down their possessions to a mere 100 items.

The idea comes from Dave Bruno. He has a blog and keeps people posted. More from the Time article:

Bruno keeps a running tally on his blog, guynameddave.com of what he has decided to hold on to and what he is preparing to sell or donate. For instance, as of early June, he was down to five dress shirts and one necktie but uncertain about parting with one of his three pairs of jeans. "Are two pairs of jeans enough?!," he asked in a recent posting.

Well, as one who has been in the process of trying to down-size from a house to an apartment since mid-November I can say even moving to 1000 things is hard enough. (No, I haven't counted. It's a metaphor, or some literary thing or another.) I am impressed with anyone who tries to go to the 100 items. Of course the way I think, I would say that my book collection is one item; by CD collection one item, etc.

That's not cheating, is it?

More some other time. But it is an interesting challenge.