Decluttering During the Apocalypse

When there's nothing to be done, try even more nothing

Long ago in 2009, I contracted Lyme Disease. For several months afterwards, I was sleeping 14 hours a day and couldn’t work. I had about 2-3 good hours a day, broken up into 30 minute intervals. I was tired. I was scared. And I had no idea what to do.

So, in my few good hours, I cleaned out my closet. Got rid of a bunch of old clothes. Found a few old gift certificates that helped see me through those terrifyingly broke months. And in general, just…felt a whole lot better, at some deep spiritual level.

In general, things are pretty fucked right now. It’s hard to know what to do. For instance, I spent so much energy convincing my landlord to shorten my lease (because now my Social Security Disability payments are in danger) that I didn’t spend enough effort looking at all of Trump’s tariff threats and adjusting my investments defensively. (Because I thought it would be like the first round of tariffs, all bluster - not the beginning of World War III.)

That is to say, sometimes you’re so busy fighting Crisis A, that Crisis B just saunters right on in through the front door.

But I am not here today to talk about this financial and public health clusterfuck of a week.

I am writing today to talk about our future, yours and mine.

And the one word I see for humanity’s future over the next few decades is: nomadic.

People will flee wars and climate change, dictators and disasters. Job loss, inflation, and long covid will have folks doubling up with family (if they’re lucky) and having to survive with very few belongings (if they’re unlucky).

And so, the first thing to do while the world is on fire is tend to your own personal business, and problem solve around whatever it is you personally need to do.

But, once all your obligations are met, might I gently suggest that this would be an excellent time to…declutter?

Reasons why:

• Reducing clutter in your home will give you back a feeling of control and agency. It will also create visual peace and order that will help to re-regulate your nervous system.

• Clutter is sometimes hiding treasures! That item that’s still in the return window - you could use the extra money! Cash in an old birthday card. Extras of that thing you thought you’d run out of. When you declutter, you find and also save money.

• Hidden treasures, Part 2: You can sell stuff! Now, you have to figure out your personal monetary threshold, and just give stuff away that’s not worth your time or effort to sell. However you can also contribute to Buy Nothing and “earn” good will “points,” and sometimes that comes back to you in offers of stuff you actually need.

• Emotional Processing: We all hold onto too much stuff from parts of life we’ve grown away from, and from parts of life we aspire towards but realistically won’t reach. All that stuff makes you feel…super guilty, honestly. That’s why decluttering is hard work, emotionally. But once you let some of that stuff go, you feel more light, free, and capable of conquering the challenges of the day.

• And finally: logistical freedom and options. There’s an old saying that you can move heavy, happy, or cheap: pick two. The less stuff you have, the more options you have when it comes to moving.

  If you have an opportunity - or an impetus - to move, but you’re tied down to your stuff, you might stay when you should go.

  But what if you’ve pared down your belongings to only the things you need, treasure, and/or use regularly? You know exactly what clothes you need for all kinds of weather because you’ve already done the work. You know exactly what books you’d need to travel with for a one-year assignment because those are in the special shelf next to your bed. You’ve already gotten rid of that china you never used, and you know exactly what you’d need to run a functional kitchen.

Well, then you could say Hell Yeah. Like, Hell Yeah, I’m leaving. And that’s where you want to be.

You also want to understand what you need for a:

• bug out bag (fire / flood / hurricane)

• a vacation weekend

• a week of travel

• a year with 80% of your stuff in storage

And for most people, knowing what you do need means first digging through all the piles of crap you shift around constantly but never really use.

So, try:

• Cleaning out your closets

• winnowing your bookshelves

• Ridding your kitchen of aspirational tchotchkes for gourmet meals you haven’t produced

Also ask yourself really basic, obvious questions such as:

• If I never drink, why do I have 12 wine glasses in my apartment?

• If I can only read large print now, why am I holding onto all my old paperbacks?

• If I don’t cook anymore, why am I keeping all these cookbooks?

If your life makes using x logistically impossible, why is it still taking up space in your home?

And that is it. I don’t know what to do about all the insanity happening. But as your “technical, spiritual, and menu advisor,” I can advise the following:

Clean out your shit.

Cause you might be wanting to go somewhere else, sometime soon.

Possibly in a hurry.