We needed a better kind of superhero – a far more necessary kind – to fight people talking crap.
Karl Pilkington is the original Bullshit Man, but I’m renaming this superhero so anyone can wear the costume. There is far too much exaggeration and fabrication going on for just one superhero to handle. Picture this: Captain Bullshit swoops in whenever people are talking complete crap. – *whoosh* – With the point of a finger Captain Bullshit says, “You’re talking bullshit!”, and then people will stop trying to deceive one another. The world will be a better place for all of us. “Thanks Captain Bullshit!“
I recently received an email about decluttering with a link to a popular tidying expert, who claims that their clients only have to sort their belongings once, and that’s the final time. None of their clients has ever had to reconsider or reorganize again. Wow, right?! That’s incredible.
They get help to sort it out and from then on, everything somehow stays perfect and nothing ever needs reassessing again. What’s most amazing is that people actually believe this. Look, I understand that everyone wants to be convinced that it’s possible, but it simply is not. The fact of the matter is that we all change over time, and that’s a good thing!
First of all, we grow
It’s strange, but true. With our stretching and expanding, from birth to adolescence (and perhaps beyond) we need to keep collecting and releasing all sorts of clothes, shoes and furniture.
Our interests change as we learn
When we were babies, we played with toys that are extremely boring to a kindergarten kid. When we’re students, we need a completely different set of items not only for when we’re at school, but for our rooms too. Then there are items we need for work.
Then there are all of the hobbies
In every lifetime, we all test out many different activities to see if we enjoy them. You can’t truly know if you enjoy doing something until you’ve given it a bit of time and have actually tried it for a while. Perhaps you were more interested in skiing as a kid, but now you’re trying out rock climbing. You might be cycling to work, playing volleyball on Fridays, and occasionally going camping. Your kids are trying out many new things every year. All of it requires different equipment. One day, you wake up and realize your garage is full of all sorts of things that you and your family are normally not using at all.
Then there’s the wear and tear
Rather than deciding what to keep and what to toss only once, everyone needs to occasionally replace things that wear out and break over time. You might have thought your frying pan would last forever, but then you notice that it’s gradually become scratched and warped beyond repair. That amazing sofa you bought eventually becomes an uncomfortable eyesore that has to go.
We have only been discussing items within our homes that we need to reassess and replace, but for those who own their homes, there are also a multitude of things that are part of the structure that wear out and need replacing or constant maintenance.
Then there’s eating
Due to the nature of our crazy metabolisms, we need to keep eating food. This causes a nearly constant need to buy more food to stock our fridges and cupboards. It also means we are needing to reassess our kitchen pantry contents on an almost daily basis.
Then there’s fashion
Styles change. Sure, you can decide on a complete wardrobe today, but in a few years those items that were so nice when you bought them will make you look like a homeless person. It helps to dress in a more timeless fashion whenever possible. If you need to be wearing the latest trends, you are destined to be constantly reassessing your wardrobe. You’d frequently need to let go of a lot of perfectly ‘good’ clothes in order to replace them with new ones.
So, to summarize
Things change over the course of our lives. Hurray! If everything always stayed the same, life would be pretty freaking boring. Due to things changing, we all need to reassess our priorities and our interests, our schedules and our belongings. That’s normal and it’s necessary. No need to lie about it. We will definitely need to tidy up often, and we will need to completely rethink our path on occasion.