Content at Minimum Week 1: Easing Into It

For my first week of the CAM Project, I tried not to overwhelm myself. I have the tendency to get excited about a project and think that I’m going to do everything at once, then lose my interest or energy within a few days or weeks. Despite that good intention, I found both areas that I worked on more difficult than I expected.

The Wardrobe:

I started with our clothes since we’ve already reduced our closet for Project 333 and do a season reset every three months (when life doesn’t get in the way, oops). I thought it would feel easy and familiar. The reset does take us a fair amount of time, and we usually end up decluttering some each time we go through our boxes, but this was different. I spent six hours working through the clothes, even with Jace’s help for part of that time, and we eliminated a lot more. 

I pulled out everything from the closet and our dressers, a basket of clean laundry, the boxes of seasonal clothes we keep under our bed, and the two large plastic totes of clothes that we’ve put aside during Project 333. I brought the boxes into the living room and piled the clothes onto the couch. Mine and Jace’s clothes were mixed together in the plastic totes, so first I just separated our things.

I started to sort through my clothes, but I kept feeling stuck and struggled to stay on task. I also needed a saline infusion and had to keep my IV pump plugged in, so I was basically tethered to the wall. I worked for a while on going through small and miscellaneous items, like our robust mask collection that I was finally ready to reduce. I also picked out a lot of items to donate and refolded my out-of-season clothes and put them back in the box.

I was really struggling by the time Jace joined me. I was crabby, snappish, and our energetic pets were adding to the chaos. He took the critters outside for a break and then we went through his stuff and sorted it into storage, donations, and items to wear for the next three months. He was willing to put a lot into the donation bin, which I know is hard for him. We finished up by finalizing my seasonal wardrobe and closing up the storage boxes. I was amazed that by the end we had filled an extra-large Chewy box with donations.

While 33 items each is a very reduced wardrobe compared to what we used to have, that number doesn’t include undergarments, pajamas, or clothes you only wear to work out. We also exclude clothes I use for medical purposes like compression garments and Jace’s work uniforms. So, I’m not sure our closets are down to our true minimum. However, I think this was a good way to start and that reducing more right now would be difficult. We can always revisit our clothes later if we want to take on another challenge

The Nightstand:

I keep a lot of my daily-use items on a rolling cart. It’s very similar to Ikea’s raskog cart, but I got mine either at Target or Michael’s. I’ve used it in a variety of ways, and it’s been really helpful to me as a disabled person. It can be hard for me to get up and get items from another room and I want to be able to easily move from my bedroom to the living room without leaving anything behind. 

In the evening, I bring the cart back into the bedroom and park it next to the bed. I also have a nightstand and putting both beside the bed gets crowded, so I decided to tackle that area and reduce to using only the cart. It’s a small part of the house, so I thought it would be easy, but there were some pitfalls for me. I was also just not feeling very well, but I was determined to get it done.

Like the clothes, I started by just taking everything out of the cart and nightstand and spreading it on the bed. I got a smallish cardboard box for anything I decided to pack away. Most of the things in my nightstand drawers were miscellaneous items that I don’t really use that often. I kept a few chargers and put everything else in the box. I moved the vitamins I take right before bed off the top of the nightstand and onto the cart and found a reading light that could go on the cart as well so I could pack my larger lamp.

I kept most of the items I already had on the cart. I have some lotion, hair ties, pain relief balms, and my TENS unit. I’m one of those people who tends to have way too many notebooks, so I put a few away. This was one of the sticking points for me. I have several journals that I use for different things and a small array of art supplies. It’s stuff I value and use, but it’s not strictly a necessity. I decided it was okay to keep those things out and available because they bring me happiness, especially when I’m feeling sick. Once I had moved everything, Jace took the nightstand to the laundry room.

There was one object that I feel like I fell off the wagon for. I had several sets of wired earbuds in the nightstand and most of them immediately went into the cardboard box. I have a set of Bluetooth earbuds that I prefer, but I got stuck on a pair of Apple earbuds. I told myself they would be much more comfortable to wear when I play video games because wearing my Bluetooth ones for too long hurts my ears and I usually use discord on my phone anyway. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’m trying to avoid: justifying an object that’s not a necessity and that I don’t otherwise use because I see potential in it. Still, I just couldn’t let them go.

While I knew that the CAM project would be difficult in terms of time and physical effort, I clearly underestimated in some ways. Making a choice about every object we own is going to take a lot more mental and emotional effort than I realized. For some people, I’m sure that would be obvious, but I generally don’t have too much trouble letting go of things. Well, this is the crux of the project, I suppose: to find out how much we can let go of and still be content. 

If you’ve read this far and would like to comment, let me know what small or innocuous item you’d have trouble letting go of.