Decluttering

[cjsmith]

I went to a trade show yesterday.

Yeah, that line isn't expected right after a title like "Decluttering", is it? :-) You geeks know exactly what I mean.

I went to the Embedded Systems Conference yesterday on a free exhibits-only pass. What this usually means is I pick up flyers from everyone who has a cool demo, grab chocolate from anyone who's giving it away, and take any free samples of anything I can get my hands on. A usual trade show haul contains at least one shopping bag or waist pack or backpack, which is handy to carry all the keychains, candy, bottle openers, blinky toys, little mechanical cars, coasters, logo-printed pens, T-shirts, puzzles, hats, catalogs, data books, stuffed animals, and chocolate bars. To this day my ice skates (which I cannot wear because they never did fit me) are stored and carried in a yellow vinyl bag with the Sun logo on it, obtained at SIGGRAPH in Las Vegas. Great: a bag that's considered useful only in that it contains a thoroughly useless item!

One of the big changes I can see myself making, on my quest toward a more organized and less baggage-laden life, isn't about getting rid of things but instead not acquiring them in the first place.

This year I did NOT take a big chocolate bar from Green Hills. I did NOT pick up a cute stuffed owl. I didn't take an umbrella or a cloth bag or a stuffed monkey. (Granted, I didn't find the monkeys. A coworker told me about them later.) I didn't acquire a single bottle opener, though many were offered, and I actually put back the cloth bag I had lifted briefly from its rack. I didn't take the "20% off all books today at the show" deal because they were books I didn't need. I did take too many flyers, but the durable goods are limited to a Coke can cozy and a nifty soft-feeling leather coaster. Well, okay, and Perforce is mailing me a T-shirt. At least I wear T-shirts.

Progress.

Comments

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, CJ! That's a serious achievement. I'm also trying to declutter (yeah, as if this is new) -- shovelling faster and more efficiently, but also -- as you did here -- grappling to turn down the flow of incoming crap in the first place.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I find that if I shovel faster AND block the incoming tide, I can almost keep up. :-) Maybe I'll get the hang of it in another decade or so!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

PS: friended you. Something tells me I'd already done that, but when I looked, you weren't there. I honestly don't know if I have more senior moments than LJ does...