I'm in the process of moving my studio back home. But this time, the moving involved includes cleaning out things at home and moving a few items to a storage space in order to make room for all the art stuff that will be returning again.
I've always been against storage spaces in theory...why in the world would you spend money to house stuff that you're not using out of sight somewhere? But, this time it has become necessary, in part because we live in 600 square feet of space, and working from home at the scale that I now do just requires more room than it did previously.
However, even though in general we live pretty high on the simplicity scale (small living quarters, one car, few possessions, etc.), I still noticed the dynamic of "stuff" today. It seems that all day was spent moving "things," whether from home to storage, or from the studio to home, or from the above spaces to the trash bin. And at some point you stop and think, "What am I doing and how much energy should my stuff really take?" Moving material, inanimate objects, none of which really contribute to vitality in life, starts to feel a bit senseless.
And it is especially senseless when you realize that living in such a mega-consumeristic culture effectively blocks us to the access we have to real abundance, which is often a spiritual thing and always an inner thing, and certainly not something you purchase. I really think that the degree to which you live in a consumer culture directly corresponds to the degree to which your access to real things is blocked.
So, I don't know. Stuff will always be there and is, in some primary ways, unavoidable. But it seems the less time spent managing/maintaining/fixing/improving it, the better.
This is so timely for me at this point in my life!
Preach it! I have the same thoughts about stuff as I tidy up every day after my family and feel like so much of my life is stuff management - kids clothing that they've outgrown that needs to be donated or saved for the younger one, toys that they are done with or ones that are stored away that need to be pulled out, washing/drying/folding cloths (repeat, repeat, repeat this never ends), buying/selling/craigslist/BuyNothing group/Goodwill. So much stuff! I try to purge and resist the urge to get more stuff as I've come to feel the cost of having stuff (literally when we have to move and lug all that stuff out of and into a new home - the perk of renting is that it forces one to face one's stuff on a regular basis when one has to move) both materially but also spiritually. I've found greater freedom in this past season when I've resisted the urge to get more stuff and when I do get things to only get that which I know I will truly use or find beautiful and enjoy. I totally agree with your last sentence that the less time one has to spend on one's stuff the better!