today i set out to clear out my purses and bags to then have them ready to give them away. we’re talking about 15 purses/bags in total. all were sort of abandoned at one point in time or are only used once a year. why did i keep them? because for that once a year use where they came in very handy. i know it doesn’t make much sense to the male reader but i’m sure my female readership will understand.

anyways, so i was emptying out every pocket and the stuff i found was quite amazing (and disgusting, let’s not hide that!). i found about 15 euro in change *yay* and 12 or so packages of tissues. why so many tissues? i guess i have a cold very often or maybe i have a tissue fetish or something else is wrong with me.

i also found three fortunes from fortune cookies, two clothespins (why??????), make-up that i thought i lost somewhere on my business trips (yay, my favorite lipliner is back!), gum in various stages of decay (still in the wrapper but exposed to heat and freezing cold over the years), and a whole bunch of bobby pins. oh and of course receipts from my grocery shopping trips. i have no real idea why i kept those receipts. i guess once i hauled my food home i was too lazy to toss the receipt (especially it gets lost so easily in the depth of the purse…). i guess the content of my purses paints an interesting picture of me. i mean, a clothespin and a grocery receipt from 3 years ago and half-dissolved gum. what kind of disgusting person am i?????

while i am doing all of this downsizing for a reason i am realizing that it shouldn’t take a move to another continent to go through ones stuff and just get rid of unnecessary items. for me it feels very liberating to see how few things i really need. every small thing that i toss or give away is lifting a little weight off of me. i didn’t feel like my stuff was weighing me down until i started to give things away.

now, i am not trying to demonize having things, collecting things, enjoying the many items we all have. but what i am saying is that for me it is the right time to downsize. and maybe this post can encourage you to finally tackle that bookshelf you always tried to organize, or to toss the many knick knacks that have accumulated in the bathroom. go for it!

franzi