“Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris  

The problem with life today is that it’s just too complicated. There’s too much paper work to store. Too many receipts to keep. And far too much junk. I don’t know about any of you, but I still have my PlayStation 2. It’s stacked (along with 40 games) on the top shelf inside my study. I can’t think of any conceivable reason why I’ll ever play it again, given that I own the newer version. Yet, I’m reluctant to throw it away. Why are we so scared of junk removal? Just the mere suggestion of calling a junk removal specialist causes us to dig in our heels and develop a strange sentimental attachment to our garbage. Is it nostalgia? Perhaps. I remember the summer of 2010. My room was always full of friends. We had bags and bags of chips, soda on ice, and a rolling tournament of NBA 2K11 running from morning till night. Those are some of my best memories. Do I see them when I look at my old PlayStation? I suppose I do. Junk removal doesn’t have to be scary though. It’s natural to resist change, and to try and cling on to the old. But, that only does ones self a disservice. There are new memories to be made. New summers to enjoy. While my waist line can’t handle the amount of chips it used to, my stomach still enjoys laughing until it hurts. Hoarding useless crap has to come to an end sometime. For me, included. Even if laziness is what motivates you to hoard, or even a desire not to spend money; change needs to happen. Stop tip toeing around that old sofa that’s had it’s last day. Get rid of it. Enjoy the extra space. My English professor in college used to say, ‘perfection is when there is nothing left to remove. Everything else is clutter.’ Let’s experiment: Take a look around the room you’re in. Do it with me now. How much of what’s in there do you need? I mean, really, really need? I’m guessing… around fifty percent. If so, you sir or madam, are living in clutter. While I don’t want you to get rid of everything, and go Gung Ho with your junk removal expert; I do want to set you a challenge. For one month, try minimalism. Get rid of a lot of your clutter. Experience for yourself what all of that extra space feels like. Experience what it’s like to move on in to the future. By the end, you won’t want to go back.