We don't need no mo' crap.

WARNING: WHITE PERSON PROBLEM!

No, I don't mean getting a vicious sunburn or not being able to properly fill out the back of my jeans.  My friend who was in the Peace Corp in Senegal introduced me to this term when I complained about not getting enough time on a waverunner.

Anyway, it’s probably more appropriate to refer to my “issue” as a developed world problem.  That “issue” is having too much crap!  I can still pinpoint a particularly resonant moment freshmen year of college- my throat tightened as the shopping cart at Target started to fill.  There was the plastic rolling storage unit along with all the items that would fill it: a mini tool set, light bulbs, pepto bismol, wool socks, cotton socks, nail files, a can of Raid...  It almost scares me how well I knew myself back then- I knew I would carry all of this with me for four years and most likely never use any of it.  And that is absolutely what happened.  That was no easy feat considering I moved roughly 6 or 7 times throughout college.

After college and before I moved to China I purged myself.  I donated, threw out, gave away, burned, and repurposed a large chunk of my possessions.  I had had enough and I was not going to bring this literal “baggage” with me on my Asian adventure.  Shockingly I’ve kept my lifestyle relatively clutter free since then and I hope to keep this good thing going for as long as possible.  Don't get me wrong, I still have a crap-load of stuff but compared to my former life I look like Gandhi.

This brings me to my point of the day- I'm sure you know someone like me.  Hell, you’re probably like me! You're a spoiled, over-indulgent clothes horse to whom an over abundance of things, sometimes figuratively but most often literally, serves as a stumbling block.  If the thought of how much stuff you own or once owned makes you anxious THIS TIPS FOR YOU!  Instead of asking for gifts, or worse yet getting gifts you don’t want/need, ask people to give a donation in your name and do the same for them.

I learned my poor behavior from my mother and I felt silly spending money to buy her another piece-of-crap gift and I would feel even sillier spending more money to put that piece of crap in a box and mail it halfway across the country.  So I did some research and found this: https://www.rescue.org/donate/mothers-day-v3

Father's Day is around the corner and I now intend to give this (even if my father's never picked up a power tool in his life): http://www.fromharmtohome.org/

When I feel the need to change things up I'll probably give a microloan through http://www.kiva.org/  or a group that is closer to my heart: http://en.wokai.org/

If you still aren't satisfied try: http://www.changingthepresent.org/

And if you think you'll  have a difficult time giving up your selfish tendencies, REMEMBER this is not a purely selfless act.  The warm fuzzy, feeling you get when you receive/give a gift like this is far better than the chokey/queasy feeling I described earlier in this entry.  So be a little selfish, its okay.