Hi friends!
So this week has been a bit quiet on the post front, due to my previously-mentioned reason of moving house (as well as setting up my Misc. Bliss Facebook page!). Sorry for disappearing on y’all, I promise I’m still here!
Today I want to talk about something that is taking over my life, and that is stuff. I never knew how much crap I had accrued in my 11 months here in Korea, and to be honest, I’d prefer to carry on not knowing! I’d instead prefer to suppress it all and continue comfortably secure in my hoarding ways… except for the fact that my friend is moving into my house for a few weeks which has (thankfully) forced me to be organised and think ahead of time. It’s a strange, novel feeling for me, this organisation thing. However, the sheer amount of stuff I am discovering I own (besides being obscene and gluttonous) is making me very grateful for putting my butt into gear early!
There is a name (and TV show) for people like me: HOARDERS. Yes, that’s me yelling at myself. Because as much storage space as there is at Gav’s place/my new home (and there’s a lot), I sort of don’t want to start spreading from my cupboard into Gav’s, and then the spare one, and then upstairs and maybe eventually into the fridge. Believe me, it could happen!
This issue I have with holding onto stuff for waaaay too long has followed me around/been created by me my whole life. It started when I was younger, with my soap and stamp collections. Cute, right? Then it continued on into school, and my refusal to let go of previous years’ work. Then, in uni, my best friend and I cleaned out my room and I struggled to let go of my Year 8 French verb cards. I take a million photos and never delete the bad ones and in doing so freeze up my computer’s hard drive until I can get a professional (Gav) to handle my storage solutions.
Want to see what I’m working with? Have a looksee here (#nofilter):
Soooo this is my life right now. And that’s not even all of it!
Let’s talk through my piles of loveable and precious clutter, for your enjoyment and my cataloguing purposes.
As you can see, there’s a lot of books. I love books, even more than I love reading them. It’s a bit of a problem. I have huge hoop dreams and earnestly buy both new and used books, classics, books I’ve ‘always wanted to read’ – but then I forget that the point of the book is to actually read it instead of just take pleasure in collecting and storing it away in a dark cupboard. It’s a funny thing. I am planning on taking my books (after reading them, of course) to the Itaewon Foreign Bookstore, where they give you a credit… to buy more books!
The next most noticeable thing is probably the skincare/cosmetic products. Since I took this photo this arvo (‘afternoon’ for all you non-Aussies out there), a trip to Daiso for some shelving has rendered this area somewhat more presentable. But I like to keep things ghetto on this blog, so you are getting the original and the best! My cosmetics collection is a mixed (and over-full) bag, featuring Nature Republic (obvs), Holika Holika, Innisfree, Skinfood, The Face Shop, L’Occitane (practically Korean), The Body Shop (not-so-Korean), Muji (definitely not Korean) and more. This is why I am on an infinite spending ban, until I use up at least some of these products. I haven’t been to a Nature Republic store in months, and it’s killing me!
To be honest, I actually find having this much stuff quite stressful. I enjoy shopping and accruing things, but it always takes me so much longer to use them than I anticipate. Especially makeup, since I am a low-maintenance gal and like things to be as simple, quick and convenient as possible. According to my calculations, I have enough makeup and skincare products to last me for the next 38439489347283 years, and perhaps even that’s being conservative. I feel like I am constantly showering and slathering on products in a bid to speed up their usage. It’s absurd! One good thing is that this cupboard of mine smells amazing! 😉
Another thing that has been collecting dust here is my ‘correspondence collection’. This involves two writing pads (pictured above) and a whole host of envelopes, letter sets and various stationary tidbits. This part is out of control, particularly due to the fact that I generally am terrible at keeping up with my correspondence.
When I moved to Korea, I had romantic notions of handwriting and sending a bunch of mail all around the world. Unfortunately, due to slackness (mainly), long work hours and a few supremely frustrating run-ins with the sole male/incompetent employee at the post office, this has not happened. In fact, after initially raving about the efficiency of the post office, I have put off going there after this particular employee told me the system was down when it wasn’t down, and then continued to huff and puff his way through serving me, as if I was forcing him to work there against his will. I know I am annoying Westerner, Mr. Man, but I just want to send my badly-duct-taped box and be on my merry way!
The lesson from this post? Buy less stuff (remember this one, Steph…)! Also, use what you have! And DO stuff! These are a few steps I have been trying to put into action, and they’ve been working (surprisingly). To be honest, I really don’t have that much space left here so some stuff’s gotta go. It’s just a matter of what (and when)!
I’d like to leave you all with the view from Gav’s apartment/my new home. All this trekking back and forth (ie. walking 10 minutes with a bag or two) is worth it for this beautiful house. It’s a loft apartment, and it’s balla, and pictures will come shortly. It’s also not cheap! But again, worth it.
I hope you all had a lovely Saturday, sorry for the delay in posts (I’m back!) and I will see you tomorrow for Sample Sunday with Skinfood’s Black Sugar First Serum! 🙂
Lots of love,
Steph x