Some years back, especially when I was in school, I was very comfortable with clutter, and I didn’t mind it at all. I remember the days when friends would visit my room, and the first thing they would do was start lamenting about how "dirty" I was because there were books in various forms scattered all over the place. That observation was quite true because my eyes and my brain never saw the cluttering of books as tiring or dirty. I wanted my books to be easily accessible, within reach in every corner.
The same applied to my clothes and other items. I would have these things scattered and jam-packed, and I wouldn’t feel the need to arrange them, except once in a while, which I considered my cleanup days. But guess what? The tidiness would last for just a few hours before I would revert to the old habit of scattering items, which ironically made them easier for me to locate than when they were neatly arranged... which appeared as HIDDEN. lol
Back then, I had no issue living this lifestyle. As long as I could walk into my room and there was enough space for me to access my table spot, bed spot, kitchen, and bathroom, I was content. My corners being filled with all sorts of items never bothered me.
But then, something happened. As I grew into a simpler lifestyle, my eyes began to feel heavy at the sight of things jam-packed or scattered in my living space. Even my reading table at home currently gives me a sort of headache whenever I see too many items placed on it.
My younger brother, who now lives with me, often gets queried by me because he’s living my old lifestyle. He doesn’t bother about whether the space is filled up or needs to be arranged, or whether he should do away with items that are no longer in use.
Last month, I completely lost my patience when I saw his many pairs of footwear scattered in every corner of the house—even in the bathroom! According to him, he intended to wash them in the bathroom but hadn’t found the time to complete the task.
That’s how much cluttering now feels like punishment to my eyes and brain.
It’s not just in my house or room; even on my phone, I now live a very simple life compared to how I used to clutter it with different versions or designs of the same app. Back then, I would end up using just one app while the rest sat there, consuming space. A typical example was having multiple versions of the Opera Mini app. You know, all of them have similar logos, and I would struggle to identify the one I had been actively using. But now, that can never be me. Life itself is already hard, and I can’t afford to make it harder on myself by cluttering my devices. So, I’ve done away with many of those apps. Yeah, I clear off things that are not in use
Even on the Blockchain, I now only keep a list of the communities I actively post to. It used to be so stressful scrolling through hundreds of communities just to select one. That’s why, even now, I still review my list regularly and remove the ones I no longer use.
What about my mental life? One thing I’ve been striving to do—though life’s challenges and problems cannot be entirely avoided—is to avoid cluttering my mind with bugging thoughts. Whenever such thoughts come, I try my best to get rid of them quickly by finding ways to elevate my mood. I achieve this by taking walks in nature, reading, or watching comic content.
Thanks for reading.
This is my response to #KISS prompt
All photos used are mine