Leo Babauta recently shared a quote in his post A Simple Declutter Habit: Leave No Trace from Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki:

“When you do something you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, 
eaving no trace of yourself.”

This makes me think of the no trace camping signs I see when hiking in the backcountry...  

The title of this New York Times article says it all: New Rule: All Purchases Subject to a 7-Day Mental Quarantine. Writer and financial planer Carl Richards says:

"I recommend a stuff quarantine of seven days, particularly if we’re talking about anything that costs more than $50. Anything that you’re considering ought to sit in your head for at least a week…"

Virginia-based Matt Paxton, host of Hoarders is my celebrity organizer crush (tied with Peter Walsh).  So when Matt posts something, I read it.  Matt recently shared on Facebook an article on excuses to which he contributed.  Of the 5 most popular excuses for keeping things we don’t need, #1 was “In case I need them in the future.”  Sound familiar? 

It’s all too easy to get caught up in buying a little something here and there while on vacation. Vacations have us feeling freer to buy that t-shirt we’ll unlikely ever wear at home, that scarf (because it fits in our bag, not because our wardrobe needs it), or that tiny sculpture that seems irresistible at the time.

In the age of simple, graphically manicured websites, librarything.com stands out as a relic from decade’s past.  I don’t discriminate though; as long as a product or site works, it’s pretty enough for me. I suggested this book cataloging site to a client who was resistant to let go of books for many reasons, but the main one being that she didn’t want to lose track of the books she had, and interests thereof.

Do you really still have VHS tapes?  If so, I’m going to read your mind in an effort to help you let go of them. You still have a VHS collection because:

- They may have sentimental footage. This is the only good reason for keeping any - and still, rarely good enough considering you can’t even remember what that footage could be!)...