How do we end up with so much clutter? Because we collect it. And why do we collect it?

For one thing, it’s cheap entertainment, and I do mean cheap; much stuff nowadays is inexpensive and doesn’t hold up well, but it serves its purpose by temporarily satisfying a desire. The problem is when we hang onto it when we don’t need it anymore, or when it’s no longer useful. Some typical cheap and temporary thrills that soon turn to clutter include clothes bought on impulse, kitchen items that are more attractive than useful, and craft items for crafts we hope to take up someday.

Also, credit allows us to amass all sorts of things we couldn’t afford otherwise. Compared to our elders, for whom stuff was more expensive and saved up for or not bought, we can have many things we don’t have the money to buy outright. So we can end up with more stuff than we would have otherwise.

Of course, clutter is sometimes the visible evidence of emotional issues. You buy something to make yourself feel better after an argument, a frustration, a breakup, or just a bad day at work. Shopping therapy can leave you temporarily satisfied but living in an overpacked home.

Finally, a lack of clutter, or simplicity, can leave us feeling naked, like there’s nothing to protect us from the world or ourselves. It’s no surprise that some of our greatest thinkers emphasized a minimum of stuff. They understood that possessions don’t make the man (or woman), and that sometimes, possessions own you instead of the other way around, leaving you too busy maintaining all of your stuff to think hard about what’s going on in your life and in the world. Ultimately, your clutter can be a great distraction from more important issues.