Self Storage Units and Freedom

Bob found a box of watches in his closet. Why they were there even he couldn’t remember. Perhaps he was living out the Jim Croce song, “If I could save time in a shoebox.” According to Bob the box was full of Timex and other brand watches.  He thinks some may even be worth some significant dollars.  He's now moved them out of the closet and has to find something to do with them.

According to an article in the Economist (“Why People are Stupider Than Squirrels”), one family in ten stores stuff in a self-storage unit. According to the same article, “Contracts are often only for a month or so, yet hoarders stash things away for far longer. At Big Yellow, a British firm, 37% of space is filled with stuff that has been there for over three years.” That was once me although my life has recently been downsized.

Simplifying one’s life is a freeing process. For me this was done through the vehicle of my divorce. I was forced to move into a little house with little of my own possessions. The process was initially shocking to my system. I had no stuff. As my hands were pried (interesting Freudian typing slip---I accidentally typed ‘Pride rather than pried) my mind grew more at ease.

Bob and I live in different worlds. Bob lives in a house large enough to store stuff in closets he never looks into. I long for more storage space. The tension we both live in is between living simply or hoarding stuff.