A couple of years ago, I became overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that filled our mailbox each day. Mind you, we rarely get an actual personal LETTER. Between the bills, the sales sheets, the credit card applications and the magazines, every day our countertop looked like someone had taken a garbage can and dumped it out for us to dig through.
Being a magazine junkie, I had every home and garden publication imaginable coming to me each month. I told myself that I NEEDED to keep up with trends for my job. The magazines then brought me Book Club Offers. I needed some of those books, too. I also got on the lists for seed catalogs. Outdoor sportwear. Camping gear. Pottery Barn. They all sent me stuff! I couldn't take it anymore!
So I started cancelling things. I cancelled the book clubs. I let subscriptions run out. I got off of lists. Even though I hated to pay $4.95 for a glossy magazine at the newsstand, the feeling of being in control was euphoric.
The innundation of paper was further eradicated by getting out of debt and cancelling credit cards. Oh, we still get offers every week, but not like the ridiculous number we used to get when we were using one card to pay off another. The credit card companies knew we were in deep trouble and were only too happy to keep us supplied with more and more cards to aid our addiction. Now that we are down to just a debit card, we aren't nearly as attractive to them as we once were. Funny how that works.
There are other things we've cancelled in order to improve our lives. Getting rid of cable TV was the biggest challenge. Considering the complete wasteland of network TV, we had allowed cable in so that we could get better programming. You know, the History Chanel, HGTV (of course), Nature, etc. What ended up streaming into our home was Sponge Bob and every inane Nickelodeon show possible. And that was in addition to the History Chanel and HGTV. Our tube watching skyrocketed. So when we moved 5 years ago, we didn't take cable with us.
I'll admit, going without HGTV has been tough. I went through detox for several months, and then finally came to terms with never seeing While You Were Out again. We simply lacked the willpower to turn off the cable shows on our own. Cancelling the service took courage, but gave us back more hours in the day and not surprisingly, created fewer family conflicts.
A big part of living simply is taking control of all the stuff that comes into our lives. We don't need 24/7 TV coverage of Anna Nicole's baby. We don't need daily newspapers that we never read, books and magazines that pile up, and new department store credit cards so we can save 10% on our next purchase. Do we really need all those internet feeds stuffing our email inboxes? I've cancelled some of those, too. How about memberships to health clubs? Boy, we've wasted some money there. And although I'm a concerned Republican woman, I don't need to be a member of the official political group to vote. Ladies, take me off your list.
Perhaps many of us don't need to make major lifestyle changes to live better lives. It may be that all we need to do is do a better job choosing what comes in. Cancelling things is a perfect place to start, and It. Feels. Good.
