AuDHD goblin looking for (de)growth

[heartstonefox]

Maximalism and Underconsumption Pt 4:

Take Care of Your Things-

Basically care for your things so that they last longer. There’s really no such thing as throwing something away - it just ends up somewhere else on the earth.

So if you’re able take care of your things. Repair that hole in your shirt instead of buying a new one. You can get fancy with it if you want or just keep it practical. Look up visible mending if you want to get some ideas on the things that you can do.

It does take time and energy and some skills. If you can’t see if there’s someone/an organization who can. I personally love the barter system and use it with family and friends when they have different skills. I think it should be used more often.

[growinggoblin]

Repairing is great! I'm not amazing with actually doing repairs of appliances (I bought a kit to repair my joycon six years ago. I still haven't fixed it), but I do try to repair any holes and other issues with my clothes regularly.

For holes and tears: immediately stop wearing it if possible, and don't wash it. Any movement will add more wear and exacerbate any damage. It's much easier to repair a small hole than it is to mend one that has grown bigger to neglect!

I'm no expert, but even with very little skills and time, you can give many clothes a longer lifespan :)

[growinggoblin]

June is over, so I could finally count my total of decluttering for that month.

I hoped to do that 30-day decluttering, but a) I was very busy these past weeks and b) I already did most of the easier decluttering in April and May, so I struggled to find things on busy days.

I also tried to decluttered photos this month! Not in a very organised way, but any picture gone is a win, so that's okay.

In total I decluttered at least 94 items (I think a few more but haven't documented those)

and 770 pictures!

Really happy with the progress, even though it's not nearly as much as I would have decluttered if I'd actually done the 30-day challenge

[clotheshorsepodcast]

Me last night in bed: I have to get up early tomorrow to work on Prime Day content. Of course Dustin laughed when I said this out loud.

So yes, I got up early this morning and spent a few hours in my pajamas creating ANTI Prime Day content.

It's a prime day to remember that billionaires should not exist.  And it's also a prime day to remember that where you do/do not spend your money has impact!! For so many people around the world, Amazon has become the ONLY option for a lot of different items.  Yes, that situation exists because Amazon engaged in a lot of shady, unethical behavior. But it's also because lots of people started buying stuff from Amazon instead of shopping small/local.  And of course there is a whole "listicle industrial complex" that encourages people to do a lot of impulse shopping on Amazon, too.

So here's my Prime Day counterprogramming:

★ Shop small and local.

★ Look for it secondhand first before buying something now.

★ Or skip buying something altogether, by mending, repairing, repurposing, and rethinking.

And remember: it’s cheap because someone didn’t get paid.

About this post: Clotheshorse is an anti-AI zone. This post was created by me, Amanda Lee McCarty (while wearing a vintage Lanz of Salzburg nightgown).  I used my brain, Photoshop, and Figma.  The images are from the vintage children's book LET'S GO TO THE PARK, which was printed in Japan! It took me 2.5 hours to make this post and I'm pretty happy with it.

[growinggoblin]

This Saturday, I sold some stuff at a secondhand market, with my mum. I didn't sell a lot (didn't bring anything of value anyway lol) but it was nice anyway. Good atmosphere, friendly people. And I did sell some stuff I was hoping would find a new home! Including a very cool typewriter I would never use and had just found at the dumps for free, so that's stonks plus knowing it isn't in landfill rn is great.

I didn't make a lot of money and even bought things at the market... Two pairs of earrings (one vintage silver, the other handmade) and a small pin. I didn't spend much at all, but I had made even less, lol. Oh well.

And another advantage of this market is that now I felt more comfortable donating other items too. I put a bunch of dresses away for the local clothing loop (amazing system), and will be donating a bunch of other stuff. And I sold a sweater on Vinted!

What I bought + earrings my mum was trying to sell but nobody was interested - except me. They'll go great with a secondhand blouse I got :)

[growinggoblin]

I've been staring at the contents of this drawer for over a week now but still haven't gotten around to actually making real decisions about most of it.

Today, I want to really tackle this!

I'll start by selecting everything I'd already decided should go. That's a few small items and all of the shaped erasers (they're so cute, but alas. I'm not even sure they work well anymore...).

Next up I'll select any items I'm 100% sure I want to keep.

And then there's items to think about...

[growinggoblin]

Okay, I've made three piles:

This is what I'm keeping for sure. Some kinda sentimental items, old wallets with cards in them, small hard pouches I use for jewellery etc when travelling, and a pen I refilled using a different pen's ink thingy (yay).

Here's what I'm decluttering for sure:

Most of these I had already decided on last week, actually...

And here's what I'm not quite sure about :

I have a lot of small Hello Kitty items and I'm not quite sure whether I actually love them or not... The perfume doesn't smell nice anymore as it is old, but the bottles are so cute...

Kinda same for the Pokémon thingies, especially the figures. They're cute, but would I have picked these myself? Idk...

And then there's some miscellaneous stuff. I'm definitely keeping the knife lol, but it needs a better spot. As for the rest.... Difficult!!

Brb doing a big think!

[growinggoblin]

Okay, I split the "idk pile", here's what is going and what is staying.

Here's what I won't be keeping. I like these, but I would never pick them up at a store (new or secondhand for cheap). And for most I can easily find a new purpose.

Here's what's I'm keeping - for now.

I'm not 100% sold on all of these, especially the Pokémon, but I can't just throw them out right now. Giving them (and the perfume bottles) another chance and some more time :)

The red cat plushie is super cute, but I did put it up for sale. He's new with tags, so I'm asking a fairly high price. It's okay if it doesn't sell quick or even ever; I like it too much to let it go for just a few bucks. It's such a soft kitty

[growinggoblin]

These little bottles are so cute, I can't just throw them out :(

I did empty them all a year or three ago lol, as none smelled good anymore. Never opened before, but they were all old. (They were sold in 2010) They're quite small (5 ml or 0.16 Fl. oz)

I really want to try and find an alternative purpose for them... Any ideas are welcome!

[growinggoblin]

I've been staring at the contents of this drawer for over a week now but still haven't gotten around to actually making real decisions about most of it.

Today, I want to really tackle this!

I'll start by selecting everything I'd already decided should go. That's a few small items and all of the shaped erasers (they're so cute, but alas. I'm not even sure they work well anymore...).

Next up I'll select any items I'm 100% sure I want to keep.

And then there's items to think about...

[growinggoblin]

Okay, I've made three piles:

This is what I'm keeping for sure. Some kinda sentimental items, old wallets with cards in them, small hard pouches I use for jewellery etc when travelling, and a pen I refilled using a different pen's ink thingy (yay).

Here's what I'm decluttering for sure:

Most of these I had already decided on last week, actually...

And here's what I'm not quite sure about :

I have a lot of small Hello Kitty items and I'm not quite sure whether I actually love them or not... The perfume doesn't smell nice anymore as it is old, but the bottles are so cute...

Kinda same for the Pokémon thingies, especially the figures. They're cute, but would I have picked these myself? Idk...

And then there's some miscellaneous stuff. I'm definitely keeping the knife lol, but it needs a better spot. As for the rest.... Difficult!!

Brb doing a big think!

[growinggoblin]

I've been staring at the contents of this drawer for over a week now but still haven't gotten around to actually making real decisions about most of it.

Today, I want to really tackle this!

I'll start by selecting everything I'd already decided should go. That's a few small items and all of the shaped erasers (they're so cute, but alas. I'm not even sure they work well anymore...).

Next up I'll select any items I'm 100% sure I want to keep.

And then there's items to think about...

[stuckinapril]

I think part of getting better is complete ego death. Like you’re not above setting a timer for 5 minutes and focusing on a task. You’re not above doing a very simple 3 minute workout to start. You’re not above reading for 10 minutes a day when you first get out of your reading slump, even if you used to read for hours. You’re not above starting slow and then building up to where you want to be/where you once were. What you are above is total inertia. Doing something really is better than doing nothing. Radically accept where you are, radically accept your limits, and go from there. Don’t let your ego get in the way.

[growinggoblin]

Some more things I decluttered and organised recently

It was pretty easy to get rid of the rhinestone decoration tools - I had some fun with them as a kid/young teen but they make holes in the fabric and don't last super well. Plus I haven't done any clothing bedazzling in ages anyway.

The tea set was a bit harder, because it is very cute and I think it was a gift from my grandfather (the kinda distant one). It's absolutely unpractical tho - the teapot doesn't hold enough tea to fill all cups, haha, and the cups are tiny too. Beautiful box tho.

Another thing I looked at are my (sun)glasses.

This is how they're stored. Or well, half of them in the before picture on the left. The other thingy fell off. Which was actually reason for me to take a better look at my glasses! On the right, the after picture!

I took out all of the glasses and cleaned off the dust.

These are all of my fun glasses:

And these are my sunglasses:

Here's what I kept:

I'd like to keep the one with the cherries but the frame is broken and I don't know how to fix it. I troed glueing it, but I think I made it worse instead. Oops.

I decluttered eight pairs - I first wanted to keep the fluorescent ones but I never wear them and the 'glass' in them had weird specs in them (couldn't be cleaned off or anything) so I'm letting those go too.

[growinggoblin]

At my uncle's place

I love him and it hurts to see him in a house filled completely to the brim with not just his own stuff, but also (mostly, really) the items his parents left him when they passed. Which is literally everything they had; he has furniture, cookware, clothing, paintings, knick-knacks, absolutely everything. And a lot of it he doesn't use, and is only in the way, blocking his life. It's heartbreaking.

He said something about two chairs in the attic. How he wished his mum would have let them go when she was still alive. Because now they're nostalgia and he can't let them go anymore. These chairs serve him absolutely no purpose, they are in the way and gather dust.

I wish he would realise that a) his mother would have wanted him to only keep what he loves and uses and b) sometimes, the best way to honor items and people, is by giving them a new home where they will actually be used.

I don't want to become like him. I hope I won't.

[growinggoblin]

My mum said visiting him depresses her, as in that she doesn't want to celebrate Christmas or Easter at his house. Even though we did go to that place for many years to celebrate before. It's different now that my grandparents aren't here anymore. The place is still pretty much the same - my uncle keeps all the furniture and decorations as is, which is honestly very comforting to me and even my mum. I didn't really understand why she didn't want to go. Especially since my uncle is the only one who really cares for Easter and tradition.

But he doesn't do any upkeep for the place. It is kinda dirty, very dusty and since he can't toss anything, he even kept the dirty towels his mother touched before she died, for way too long.

Add to that his own stuff, his collections (of actual items like superhero merchandise, but also of uhm, items most of us would throw away without a second thought) and other personal items. They're sometimes literally stacked upon my grandparents' things. The living room is full of boxes, filled with food items, projects, papers and more. He put a "temporary" shelving unit in the middle of the room and it just holds more food. It's also been there for several years now. He would have room for the food if he made room. But he can't.

And it really is depressing being here.

Honestly, he's not honoring my grandmother in this way at all. Yes, he kept everything she had, but she would never have let it get as dusty as he has, she would always tidy up well, and she would not want to burden anyone with things they couldn't use.

I want him to open his mind and accept help. He doesn't have to toss anything (for now), but I would love for him to take control of the stuff. To organise it in a way that works for his life, not just the items.

I did try to talk about how I've been decluttering, when he mentioned that I'm just like him (when we made space on the attic for us to put a matress for me to stay the night). I kinda am like him! Which is even more of a reason I'm focusing on buying less and decluttering more. And organisation and cleaning.

Maybe I can be an example, if I get to mention this a few more times? I doubt he'll actually process what I've said in a way that can change his mind or anything, but maybe it can be a small hint of what's possible. Maybe.

[growinggoblin]

He went away for work and since I was staying for the day anyway, I decided to vacuum the place and clean some surfaces that weren't too cluttered.

It was nice. Of course I couldn't do any deep cleaning with all the stuff being in the way, but I did my best removing dust from the stairs, floors, the tv and console, some small tables and the furniture. I did some vacuuming upstairs as well.

I'm glad I could do that, for him but also my mother and myself :)

[growinggoblin]

At my uncle's place

I love him and it hurts to see him in a house filled completely to the brim with not just his own stuff, but also (mostly, really) the items his parents left him when they passed. Which is literally everything they had; he has furniture, cookware, clothing, paintings, knick-knacks, absolutely everything. And a lot of it he doesn't use, and is only in the way, blocking his life. It's heartbreaking.

He said something about two chairs in the attic. How he wished his mum would have let them go when she was still alive. Because now they're nostalgia and he can't let them go anymore. These chairs serve him absolutely no purpose, they are in the way and gather dust.

I wish he would realise that a) his mother would have wanted him to only keep what he loves and uses and b) sometimes, the best way to honor items and people, is by giving them a new home where they will actually be used.

I don't want to become like him. I hope I won't.

[growinggoblin]

My mum said visiting him depresses her, as in that she doesn't want to celebrate Christmas or Easter at his house. Even though we did go to that place for many years to celebrate before. It's different now that my grandparents aren't here anymore. The place is still pretty much the same - my uncle keeps all the furniture and decorations as is, which is honestly very comforting to me and even my mum. I didn't really understand why she didn't want to go. Especially since my uncle is the only one who really cares for Easter and tradition.

But he doesn't do any upkeep for the place. It is kinda dirty, very dusty and since he can't toss anything, he even kept the dirty towels his mother touched before she died, for way too long.

Add to that his own stuff, his collections (of actual items like superhero merchandise, but also of uhm, items most of us would throw away without a second thought) and other personal items. They're sometimes literally stacked upon my grandparents' things. The living room is full of boxes, filled with food items, projects, papers and more. He put a "temporary" shelving unit in the middle of the room and it just holds more food. It's also been there for several years now. He would have room for the food if he made room. But he can't.

And it really is depressing being here.

Honestly, he's not honoring my grandmother in this way at all. Yes, he kept everything she had, but she would never have let it get as dusty as he has, she would always tidy up well, and she would not want to burden anyone with things they couldn't use.

I want him to open his mind and accept help. He doesn't have to toss anything (for now), but I would love for him to take control of the stuff. To organise it in a way that works for his life, not just the items.

I did try to talk about how I've been decluttering, when he mentioned that I'm just like him (when we made space on the attic for us to put a matress for me to stay the night). I kinda am like him! Which is even more of a reason I'm focusing on buying less and decluttering more. And organisation and cleaning.

Maybe I can be an example, if I get to mention this a few more times? I doubt he'll actually process what I've said in a way that can change his mind or anything, but maybe it can be a small hint of what's possible. Maybe.

[growinggoblin]

At my uncle's place

I love him and it hurts to see him in a house filled completely to the brim with not just his own stuff, but also (mostly, really) the items his parents left him when they passed. Which is literally everything they had; he has furniture, cookware, clothing, paintings, knick-knacks, absolutely everything. And a lot of it he doesn't use, and is only in the way, blocking his life. It's heartbreaking.

He said something about two chairs in the attic. How he wished his mum would have let them go when she was still alive. Because now they're nostalgia and he can't let them go anymore. These chairs serve him absolutely no purpose, they are in the way and gather dust.

I wish he would realise that a) his mother would have wanted him to only keep what he loves and uses and b) sometimes, the best way to honor items and people, is by giving them a new home where they will actually be used.

I don't want to become like him. I hope I won't.

[theragamuffininitiative]

Source:

Keep Android Open

Advocating for Android as a free, open platform for everyone to build apps on.

Among the many reasons I am clawing my life back from Google.

[growinggoblin]

Keychains! I have no idea why I have so many.

Have been trying to cull my collection this week and here's how it turned out:

These ones on the green fabric, I'm keeping. Above are nostalic ones, souvenirs and cute ones I'd like to keep.

These are merch items I got, mostly at conventions. Keeping all of these! As you can see, I have a little Sonic collection, which kinda happened accidentally, although I did lean into it when I ordered from Hillman's Handmade!

And here's what is going to leave my house:

On the left, these are all going to be gifted or used a small prizes. I decided to add the manhole cover one because I do think it's pretty, but I don't feel particularly emotionally connected to it. On the right, there's ones I am going to give off at the thrift store. There's some very fun ones in there, but I can't keep them all.

Im a bit dad to let these go, as they're really fun and cute. But it's kind of a waste for them to just be lying around and gathering dust :(

[growinggoblin]

The worst part of tidying up and decluttering is probably all of the items you find that don't have an easy home (yet).

The weird knick-knacks, the things you probably have more of so you could gather them but they're all over the place in different drawers and boxes, the keepsakes you want to keep but can't display right now. There's so many of these things!

[flowersnteacups]

They don't have a home yet, because

there's something else in their future place that needs to be moved/taken care of, too

you still haven't found a good display case for your item

Also: due to some items being all over the place you cannot declutter them yet, as they are not in one place and you need to see what you have before deciding what to keep and what to let go

And there's a pile of boxes taking up room, but you will need these to ship several things, so you cannot discard them yet.

T_T

[growinggoblin]

Yeppp. And now those items-that-need-rehoming form DOOM piles and are in the way and it makes everything more difficult and stressful (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

[growinggoblin]

The worst part of tidying up and decluttering is probably all of the items you find that don't have an easy home (yet).

The weird knick-knacks, the things you probably have more of so you could gather them but they're all over the place in different drawers and boxes, the keepsakes you want to keep but can't display right now. There's so many of these things!