I would like to offer a suggestion: the Joy of Giving should be renamed as the Utter Relief of Giving.

It’s amazing how we ‘hunt and gather’ tonnes of stuff that we never use. Even my wardrobe operates on the 80-20 principle. A few clothes-I-like keep draping my body every day, while the others are pushed to the dark recesses of the closet and do what every self-respecting thing does in the dark — reproduce! Same goes for shoes, toys, bed linen, you name it.

Every time I defrag my house, the free space mysteriously disappears. It’s like Draupadi’s Akshayapatra — the cupboards keep filling and filling up. But at least I feel good at the end of the so-called decluttering.

DH’s office had the Joy of Giving program going on, and the last two bags went out this morning. I’ve sent out at least ten big bags of stuff that we did not use/need. This, after I decluttered barely a month ago, and gave away at least four big bags to my domestic staff (I’ve always wanted to use that word! :D)

DH and I always wonder what happened, because when we were growing up, we had just a couple of good clothes, and one sturdy pair of sandals. When did we turn into these greedy hoarders? And believe me, we’re not even compulsive shoppers who need to shop every weekend or something!

When my uncle (we miss you so much!) passed away earlier this year, his entire belongings had been reduced from a house filled with paraphernalia, to just a suitcase and a few odds and ends.

Now that’s a lessen (:D) in life that I’m trying hard to master.