That's a lot of stuff....[Credit: allysonkalea, flickr.com]

It’s a conundrum: I spent all summer working, fretting, and saving to move into a new apartment, so I could stop sleeping on the floor and get my clothes/books/shelves/jewelry/magazines/hair products out of storage (all of which had been put there when an eviction, which was no fault of my own, left me homeless in April). But now that I’ve done it—I’m in that new apartment—I’m plagued by all my stuff.

Possessions have always made me feel claustrophobic. It is hard to dash off at a moment’s notice on a great adventure – to London! Kentucky! Africa! – when one has a house, a car, a couch. But stuff does more than just hamper my spontaneity: It makes me feel guilty. To me, having “extra” makes me yet another player in the game of planet-killing mass consumption and excessive waste that defines the developed world (call me overdramatic). In the last three months, I survived, for the most part pleasantly, sleeping on a twin blow-up mattress on a dining room floor and living out of a small suitcase. Now, a new, full-sized bed seems extravagant. And must I have six towels when two are just fine? Plus, do I need a closet full of clothes? Yes and no.

For starters, I live in Manhattan. I walk as much as I can. A closet’s worth of clothes keeps me prepared for a five-day workweek, and cold, rainy, hot, snowy, or humid weather. Extra towels are useful when one has guests. The possession of frivolous things, say candles and a kitschy leaf decoration for my door to celebrate Fall, help my apartment feel like a “home” (as my friend Christine has pointed out, just because I am good at traveling, doesn’t mean I always have to live like I’m traveling). But when I am nesting somewhere, it’s important to realize that stuff will have to be bought and purchasing can be guilt-free.

(Begin reflective, flute-filled background music…)

I can make my purchases earth-friendly, by buying organic, recycling packaging, and supporting a local boutique rather than a chain store. I can acquire already used or repurposed items instead of new. I can give away my extraneous possessions. I can have people over to share in and use my matching silverware. I can marry a low ecological footprint with the comforts of home without consolidating all my stuff down to one suitcase. I’ve realized, in the end, that “stuff” does not plague me – useless, earth-hating stuff does.