The Gravitational Pull of Stuff

written by Shane Johnston
March 6, 2014


The single act of throwing an item into our designated "DONATIONS" box has always created a feeling of weight being lifted off of me.  This feeling is similar to the feeling I get after taking off a 40 pound backpack after hiking for 10 miles.  Recently, with our family getting rid of so much of our "stuff", I started to see a connection between our stuff and the gravitational pull of this stuff...

The law of gravity states that the force exerted on two masses is proportional to the distance of the objects.  Basically, if you have two heavy objects (your house with lots of stuff) it is going to have a very strong gravitational pull.  

This pull could be financial - the larger the house, the larger the mortgage.  

This pull could be materialistic -  the more stuff you have, the more likely you are to stay at home to utililize the stuff you have....

This pull could be time - time spent cleaning, tending, organizing, maintaining....

Before we purged a bunch of our stuff, I was always spending my weekends cleaning out the garage.  I would have to pass up biking and hiking and kayaking outings in order to try to organize the TOO MUCH STUFF that we had.  The gravity of the objects in the garage was larger than the gravitational pull to get outside and get moving.

I think it all comes down to a balancing act.  The correct amount of stuff to maintain your lifestyle...you dont have so little that you cannot go anywhere or do anything, but you dont have so much that it leaves you overwhelmed and not able to do the things you enjoy.  I have come to understand that finding this balance requires that you ask yourself,

"What is the ONE THING I would like to be doing with my time?"

Once you answer this questions, ask yourself - 

"Do I get to do this ONE THING often enough?  If not, why am I not doing THIS ONE THING more often?"

It may be that you need to reduce the forces in your life that stop you from spending your valuable time doing the activities you enjoy the most...