It’s Transition Time and I’ve now caught up on sleep enough to tackle the next steps. This morning is grey so it seems like the perfect whether to bustle around the house, organizing and clustering in preparation for my move into the Sweet Pea in Pod 49 on Monday. A lot of people I know are transitioning right now, too. I helped a friend move last weekend and yesterday had breakfast with a friend who was in the midst of packing. So yesterday evening I was feeling inspired to start packing myself and this morning I've continued.
One of the things I’m discovering, however, is that it’s tricky to pack two days before a move when you don’t own much more than you use! Many of the items that surround me are things that I actually will use in the next two days. I’m finding that packing in advance is especially difficult since I don’t have a good place to put the bags I’ve already packed! My floor space is mostly dedicated to circulation and there aren’t any counters. I’m making do by putting everything on top of my dressers and My Kitchen Cupboard.
As I sorted through my dresser I pulled up My 200 Things inventory spreadsheet again because I was curious to see where I’d land.
I began My 200 Things Challenge in September when I moved into my Home Sweet Yurt with 198 Things. Over the past 10 months I did my best to not acquire new things. There were a few items I picked up and a few I let go. In January when I did my New Year’s Re-Inventory I discovered I’d slipped a little. Part of it was that I realized there were some things I hadn’t counted in the first place. I was at 214 Things. So I did some Taking Stock without Stocking Up and got myself down to 197 things. But then I went shopping for The Minimalist's New Clothes in February and found 6 great items so I ended up at 203 things.
I was pretty content with what I had at that point. So I decided that it was okay to have 203 Things. After all, as I explained in My 100 Things Challenge: Who’s Counting Anyway? for me the challenge isn’t so much about the number as it is about the intent. The goal was to be more mindful of my possessions and to consider everything I own more carefully.
When My Tiny House Adventure Began, I was thinking of my stuff in terms of volume. I’d been living in the 832 square foot house I own so I was trying to figure out which items would fit in the 121 square foot tiny house I was renting? When I began My 200 Things Challenge I began thinking in terms of count instead of volume. Suddenly it wasn’t about whether or not something would physically fit within the space but whether I wanted and needed it there at all.
So I haven’t been real precious about the exact number. I could have been stricter with myself, but it just wasn’t that important to me to be precise. I had plenty of other things to focus my attention on. Nevertheless, I’ve found it to be a useful exercise. I am more contentious about what I bring into my home. Because my new year’s resolution was to go paperless, I’ve been Strategizing Digitizing, Getting All My Docs in a Row, and especially contentious about not letting more paperwork into my life. I find that these days I’m more likely to consider whether or not an object fits into my life, rather than just whether or not it fits into my space. Therefore, I feel like I’ve succeeded in My 200 Things Challenge, regardless of the number.
But in case you’re curious, I AM keeping track. I’ll report on Monday what my count ends up being!
Now it's turning into a beautiful day and I'm off to Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel! This weekend I'm site managing at Caravan while Kol and Deb are out of town. I think it will be lovely to sit under the canopy between tidying up Rosebud and checking in tonight's guest. I'm so glad the weather is cooperating with my best intentions these days!
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Update on 8/6/13: The yurt came partially furnished so there are are eight items I’ve been living with this year that I’m not taking with me: the bed frame, the mini fridge, the nightstand, the table, 2 chairs, and 2 water jugs. I've decided to not count these items on my updated list. My final count? 190 Things. You can see My 190 Things List here.