100 Thing Challenge

Yesterday I was trapped in a windowless conference room all day - fortunately it was wi-fi equipped and I had my iPad!  I was doing a lot of tiny house reading, following links down rabbit trails, and I came across the 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno.  (He has also written a  book about it, but I can't order it, because then I would be down to 99 things!) I think I've heard about it before, but I wasn't really in a position to seriously consider it.  Now?  Well, now I'm in a serious enough position to at least start counting and see where I am...

I read some posts from others who have taken the Challenge, and I'm glad to see there is space for independent thought.  For example, I read that grouping some things is generally considered okay:  Silverware, pots with lids (probably not an entire set of cookware, but maybe...) lingerie, things with multiple pieces, like my KitchenAid mixer, some people even group their books and count that as one thing.  I also read that for some people, perishables/consumables are not counted at all.  That seems logical to me.

I have to say, though, that doing the actual counting seems really daunting.  How do you do that?  Room by room, I presume, but short of putting stickers on everything, how do you keep track of what you have counted already?  I guess if you have 100 things - not 1,000 things - it probably isn't that hard to keep track!  I may have to start with 100 things per room.  Er, or 100 things per box.  LOL

And then today I stumbled upon the Reverse 100 Thing Challenge which, I read, "invites you to dump 100 things before the end of the year. If you’ve always thought that the 100 Thing Challenge is extreme, and that it would be impossible to only live with 100 things, then giving away only 100 things should be a breeze." Gosh, if only I had heard about the Reverse last Fall, I could totally add that to my list of accomplishments ten-fold.  Alas, I did not.

Regardless, I think the 100 Thing Challenge an interesting concept, especially if you plan on going down to under 150 square feet... Okay fine I'll just say it - 112 square feet. At a minimum I'm at least  going to take a stab a counting my belongings.

How it All Began

Honestly, I'm not even sure how it all began.  Having my tiara for the Queen of Rationalization firmly affixed on my head, I can rationalize starting my story as a child - a child growing up in Minnesota, spending summers in small cabins on crystal clear lakes and cranking our own vanilla ice cream.  But that would be a very long story and I'd probably lose you along the way.

I could jump ahead to my love of camping and the outdoors. But camping stories?  Endless rabbit trails, and we'd never arrive at our destination.

Or I could start with my lake property.  I had been a renter for years.  And then after a small financial windfall I leapt out of my box and bought 3 lakefront lots, intending to build a weekend cabin.  Ohh the fun!  I spent weeks pouring over cabin books about building small. Ultimately, after a great bit of education I sold the land, and at a profit.

And then the interest rates dropped, and buying a house started to seem like a good idea.  Friends and family encouraged me - "you should buy!  Rates are so low!" 

"But I love that nothing is tying me down, that I could just pick up and leave at any time!"

"But you never do.  You've been in the same area in the same job for years." 

[long silence]

It was true.

And so I bought a house and began small renovations, and furniture buying and lawn mowing and gardening.  And then...

Somewhere along the way, I found the tiny house movement, and the more I read about it, the more it called to me.  On my old 1929 Tudor blog I see an entry I made on July 18, 2011 wherein I was musing about Tumbleweed Tiny Houses...

My boyfriend of ten years (ten! TEN!) has long wanted to be in an Airstream camper, on the road.  He jokes about buying a sack of potatoes and disappearing.  For a while he tried to convince me to join him but I was steadfast in my refusal.  "I need dirt to dig in."

"You can have whiskey barrels of plants on the back end."

Mmmm .... not enough. 

But when things culminated - the last of which was the beat down of the June 13th hailstorm when I lost all the landscaping I had so lovingly nurtured... and I kept reading more and more about tiny living...I knew that my life needed an overhaul.  A big one.

Meanwhile, a head hunter I'd been working with recommended a career coach to me.  A woman named Helen Harkness (http://www.career-design.com/) who specializes in career transitioning and has owned her own business for over 35 years.  I called her, and honestly?  Fairly skeptical after our initial telephone conversation.  But feeling so discouraged, and yet so determined to keep putting one foot in front of another in some small way, I agreed to go for the free consultation.  It take long to be mesmerized by this woman who made all things seem possible.  I had the power.  I could have freedom. I could make a new life plan.

I should not be rash.  Make a plan. YOYO she said. 

"You're On Your Own."

I signed up with her in May 2012.  Change was coming.