Comer leads a wild life

In a fit of boredom, I cleaned out some of my apartment the other night. Yes, I lead a wild life.

What started as a mere exercise in dusting turned into a full-blown inventory of all of the possessions crammed into the tiny living space I call home.

Going through one drawer in particular was like opening a time capsule. For some reason, probably laziness, my sock drawer contained stuff I hadn’t worn since Reagan was president. I found an old child-size belt of mine, several pairs of dress socks I outgrew long ago, and several athletic supporters (not the cheerleader kind, the jock strap kind) that I had not touched since I was a teenager. I also realized I had lots of clothes I never wear and which were doing absolutely nothing but taking up space.

Quite simply, I have entirely too much stuff that I don’t use. Chances are you do, too.

Upon further inspection of my closet, I came across several T-shirts I forgot I even owned, in perfectly fine condition that would be a goldmine for a thrift store shopper. By the time I had finished cleaning out the closet, I had two trash bags full of stuff I could donate or possibly even sell. In case you’re wondering, I discarded the jock straps.

Of course, a pack rat like me refuses to part with even the most useless of objects. There’s no way I’m getting rid of the tattered lucky pair of red-striped socks I wore during my days of high school gridiron mediocrity glory (why I ever wore them is still a mystery to me, as they clashed horribly with our purple-and-gold jerseys. They weren’t too lucky, either — I was an average football player at best). Along with the mangled socks were yet more T-shirts, which I determined had sentimental value so I therefore could not part with them. Just throwing out a favorite old pair of yellow gym shorts long past their prime was excruciating. But I did it. And it felt good.

Modern culture has made us into creatures that place a lot of value — maybe too much — on our possessions. A person only needs so many pairs of shoes and socks or shirts. There aren’t enough hours in a day for kids to play with the oodles of games and toys they seem to accumulate. If you look around your living space, I can almost guarantee that you have more stuff than you could ever need. So, why not donate of some of it? If you do, I bet you will find that shedding some of your material objects is a liberating experience, making your life a little less cluttered. Besides that, your unwanted possessions could be put to good use by someone else.

By the time you read this, the clothing I donated may already be available to buy. If you have bought clothing recently from the Salvation Army store, especially socks or well-worn gym shoes, you may actually be wearing my former clothes — you literally know what it’s like to be in my shoes. Sorry about the smell.