A short story.

“You spend the first 20 years of being rich accumulating all of this stuff. And then you’ll spend the next 20 years trying to get out of one thing after another to simplify your life.”

Peter Mallouk

The past several afternoons have been spent helping a family friend organize their new home after downsizing.

They’ve spent 20 years in the home prior and needed a ‘buffer house’ as they figure out where to retire.

Both husband and wife built their careers in various parts of the government. They were compensated generously for the positions they held.

All things fragile, rare, and custom-made marked as “STORAGE” while the rest, allocated to where there was carpet space.

Organizing the new home felt impossible. Cardboard filled every piece of square footage imaginable.

Through hours of cumbersome organizing the family finally realized what twenty years of accumulation looks like.

The usual consignment websites and charities at their beck and call — shocked about the amount of meaningless materials with no true value.

Why are we like this?

What made society so greedy?

We only can shit in one bathroom at a time. Wear one pair of shoes. Use one car.

Malls open in Atlanta with lines longer than Black Friday.. all for what??

There is no one right answer.. but a lesson learned.

Learn to live with less.

Ways to learn more:

Peter’s twitter: