The Cult of Less - this guy got rid of almost everything

If you're paring down, wish you were, or wonder why others do, take a look at this BoingBoing post about Kelly Sutton and the Cult of Less, in which he's getting rid of everything non-digital in his life:

A willingness to drop your stationary physical possessions and move is the greatest freedom I have found in this project. Sure, you could get by without a bed, furniture and a few other essentials, but you will be miserable. No one wants to sleep on a floor if they can help it.

Instead, I've found that a lack of attachment to my possessions to be the biggest win. My bed isn't important enough to me to haul more than a few blocks, should I move. Chances are, the person moving into my apartment after me would like a bed. Leaving it for them will be a nice move-in present.

Sutton isn't exactly on the same page as 4-hour-workweek guru Tim Ferriss, but he does acknowledge that they're sort of swimming in the same philosophical pool.

Here's another BoingBoing item on Sutton.

And I almost forgot: The Cult of Less website where Sutton offered up his stuff for sale.

Personally I don't think I'll get rid of everything, but I aspire to get rid of a hell of a lot. Sutton's emphasis on keeping things digitally (i.e. stored on a computer hard drive and hopefully backed up in multiple places). On the positive, we (really Ilene) took our many hundred CDs, got rid of the cases, saved the little booklets in one box and put the discs themselves into a big CD holder that looks like a hormonally enhanced notebook. They're a lot more compact, fitting in about a 9-by-12-by-5-inch space.

We had wanted to scan everything into the computer but a) really didn't have one that would hold all of the raw files on the discs, b) I was unwilling to rip MP3s and.or Oggs, Flacs and c) that would be a lot of work. This was a good compromise. And did I mention that Ilene did all the work?

Meanwhile we've been acquiring a bit, mostly replacements of electronic items, which isn't exactly in keeping with the less-is-more ethos. But I think we're done for the time being, and we have gotten rid of a lot (again Ilene has been great moving things out on Craigslist), mostly furniture we don't need.

It's funny, living a minimalist life — or trying to get there — takes a lot of time and effort. In some ways it's easier to let crap pile up in every nook, corner and cranny. Only when you want to reclaim your physical and mental space does the work begin ...