Decluttering/Minimalism

I currently under-occupy a house, which doesn't sit well with me at all. So one rather practical target is to declutter enough that I could share the house with someone and it wouldn't be full of my crap.

Ultimately is your stuff getting in the way of your life or making you or other people unhappy? If so, sort that shit out. If not, do not.

Just get rid of it all before you die or your hapless offspring will have to sort it out

Just get rid of it all before you die or your hapless offspring will have to sort it out

My mum was quite a hoarder and there is very much a "can't see the wood for the trees" aspect to dealing with her stuff. By turns treasures (in some cases literally - finding a diamond ring in very unceremonious place) and trash (odd collections of things like years worth of the foil bags from ground coffee).

My lovely daughter is out so my wife took the opportunity to declutter her car and make a statement in her bedroom. It will fall on deaf ears.

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I knew a psychologist that rented a three bedroom house, and filled two of the bedrooms with crap she'd hoarded, it was a right dump despite looking full of kerb appeal. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king...

People seem to want to trap themselves under that shit - I don’t get it.

That said I’ve amassed some bicycles

Try to spell out a word, as a message.

I reluctantly agreed to charity shop the books of which I had two (or more) of the same edition.

As a graphics guy, and sometimes artist when I get chance, with an eye for engineering I entirely get bicycles, I'll be narrowing it down to three. One a wall hanger TT for the odd outing thats pure art, one for everyday albeit pampered, and the last one a Colnago Tecnos for best. In one sense I've become the thing I hated as a lad, a 50 year old with a Colnago! There's a form and function to bikes that's quite beautiful. I get a fair bit of grief off ex (note ex) girlfriends, and supercilious mates saying I only need one. But they just don't get it.

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king...

What does this mean?

But they just don't get it.

They really don't. I had the (mis)fortune of explaining to the plumber recently what the function was of each of my bikes. It was surprisingly simple and (in my eyes) convincible to explain really. In the end he just saw it as five frames with a set of wheels.

I've got a 56mm, 35mm, 2x23mm, 35mm, and 50-250mm lens in my camera bag. Are they all the same?

They all look very similar.

I suppose I was long-windedly saying that different people have different target ratios of stuff that would be ideal for them. I see it as aiming for a kind of equilibrium of being content with what I have. I'm more concerned with not adding/acquiring stuff. I'm all for the "decluttering" part of the thread title, but not at all for the "minimalism" part. On the other hand I "only" have 3 bikes and half a shelf of vinyl.

My ex-housemate left with just his clothes, computer games and vinyl (there's something of a trend here) and half his shoes and books. A few prints to hang on the walls. The rest of his stuff remains here and the ebaying has begun, starting with trainers and DVDs. I suspect the cubic metre of CDs will be the last to be dealt with.

Think yourself lucky you don’t MTB

It's just a way of saying when someone like a psychologist is assessing patients that has a hoarding problem herself that says a bit about society! My brother came out with it one day and I quite liked it.

My mate has a drawer full of record cartridges, too valuable to play, so he's a fine one to talk! He's got a Koetsu worth ten grand. @Tijs I might have a fridge with no food some days, but never begrudge the bikes as they give me so much escapism. There's also a soul to them. Good analogy with camera lenses. All lenses, but each specialised. @Howard I did MTB, but was a bit of a pussy!

That’s exactly it.
It’s not about giving up the stuff that adds value to you, but getting rid of all the stuff that doesn’t, and in general move away from the mindset that owning or buying things make you happy.

It’s about having what’s appropriate.

I only watched their documentary, but I’ve listened to many of their podcasts. They cover different topics like relationships, finances, kids etc and I really rate them but I also really like podcasts as a media.

If you only had one lens, would you become a better or a worse photographer?

This. ^^^
I've just started with their podcasts myself and the way they break things down make it seem a lot less scary.
Not sure if I'll be scanning then throwing away all my old photos though.

(I know it was mostly a rhetorical question, but ...) It depends on where you are as a photographer. I'm absolutley of a mind that all people new to photography should be given a 50mm prime (or equivalent) and told to take photos with it.

But knowing that, there is an appropriate space for other lenses also. It also becomes a quality thing, when you know that a prime lens will cost 50% of a zoom lens and be significantly better in quality it is worth having the range covered that way

I would probably start by merging all the duplicate threads out of my life...

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/256254/

Yeah, there could be some added value/joy in a better lens and I understand the urge to cover different focal lengths. But if selling a lens could buy a trip somewhere to take pictures, which would bring most value to life?

Okay sometimes, depression has it's moments. Living like I have been of late, things have got neglected mucky bath, sink full of pots, mess everywhere. There really is sadly a minimalist trying to get out, literally sometimes. What it has done, is decide for me what clothes I'm keeping, as by using the "floordrobe™" for so long has shown me what I wear. So the rest of the stuff in the drawers can go. Doing this tonight. Must sort the bedding too, but my policy of changing it if I'm on a promise has to change to something altogether more hygienic. The can't be arsedness attached to my life sometimes is alarming. The public face has very little to do with private 'surviving' me.