I Really Want to Throw Things Away

At the start of the month I moved into a new place, and with it came a huge pile of luggage.

First I put the everyday things where they belong: the rice cooker and cookware in the kitchen, computer accessories on the desk, clothes in the wardrobe.

Once that was done, daily life was basically up and running.

But the living room still had four boxes and a suitcase stuffed with odds and ends.

I don't even remember exactly what's in them. Since then, I've only gone digging through them when I need something.

The boxes are full of random bits and pieces. Some I've never used. Some I used once and then left sitting.

That got me thinking:

1. Can I really not live without these things?
2. Are they irreplaceable?
3. Could I just throw them out?

With that in mind, starting yesterday, I began practicing "one thing a day": every day, one item disappears from my home.

I set up a table in Notion to keep a list of what I've thrown out (see the attached image).

Yesterday and today, I got rid of one thing each.

Today it was a souvenir from the League of Legends 2025 World Championship. It's called a souvenir, but to me it's closer to trash. I've never liked collecting this kind of thing.

I used to say that if I bought a fridge magnet in every city I visited, my fridge door would be covered by now.

Things like this are just future trash that, for one reason or another, end up spending a little while at my place.

When I throw them out, I barely hesitate.

But when I decide what to get rid of each day, a lot of candidates flash through my mind. Today I just glanced back, spotted the target, and dealt with it.

Honestly, I could clear out most of this stuff in a single day, but I don't want to.

Rushing could turn it into a race for quick results, and I might feel empty once everything's gone.

I think things should go one at a time. That way I get a whole day to think about whether each one is worth keeping.

It reminds me of an app I've been using lately, 去留照片 (roughly "Keep or Toss Photos"). Without a membership, you can only go through three sets a day, thirty photos in all. As you go, you keep the ones you want, favorite the ones you love, and delete the rest.

Today I went through thirty and deleted sixteen.

I actually think this daily-limit approach suits me better. Spending a little time each day sorting my photos is like clearing one item from my home each day.

Over time, my photo library will hold only the moments I treasure, and my home will be full of things I chose with care.