We've all tried to jam just one more shirt into an already overflowing dresser. Many people cling to clothing items they'll never wear it again, like a ripped T-shirt from the 1980s that would never be worn in public. But if we know we'll never wear something again, why do we keep it? Baumgartner says a few factors can be in play. Some people may think they'll need the item again, while for others it's a question of emotional attachment. They may hate that scarf now, but can't forget that ski trip with a best friend when it was last worn. Others honestly can't decide where to put everything. Still others have problems in other parts of their lives, and while they're dealing with them, they have no time to cope with the clutter. If it's sentimental attachment that's keeping you from throwing clothing out, as is the case for many, Baumgartner suggests taking pictures of the clothing or checking to see if you have photos of the experiences you're remembering fondly. Keeping some items is fine, Baumgartner says, but others have to go.
Mark Sappenfield
Dear Reader,
About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:
“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”
If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.
But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.
The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.
We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”
If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.
