I have not rented a mini storage facility because I had an idea. I did it because I lacked space and got bored with faking that I had not. Get more info about this topics!
Living in Hong Kong is equivalent to being accustomed to narrow spaces. You adjust. Pile objects, stuff, on top, shove objects, stuff, into corners, tell yourself, it is alright. Unless it happens to be one day. I reached that stage when I was unable to open a drawer, and it had to move something before it could do so.
Hence I rented a mini storage without thinking over it.
Initially, it did not seem to be necessary. I did not like to travel every month with the purpose of storing my own things elsewhere. During the first week, I continued to ask it. Then I began to pack out of my flat, and something moved almost instantly.
That space was not only larger. It felt calmer.
I began with the obvious things, winter clothes, extra bedding, a suitcase that had not been stirred in months. Then I became a little more frank. Stale boxes that I have not opened since my last relocation. Small pieces of furniture that did not really fit and I kept.
This is when the unit began filling faster than anticipated.
Even a mini storage in Hong Kong does not have to be big in order to count. Mine wasn’t. Nevertheless, it left enough in my flat that I was able to navigate my living quarters without having to change my course every step. And that was the only thing that transformed the everyday feel of the space.
The fact that it influenced my habits surprised me even more.
I no longer hoarded little things in case. Not that I woke up minimalist, but that I had a buffer. In case something was not required immediately, it did not have to be in my living room. It would not have to go away and be discarded.
There is a weird sort of relief in that.
Another thing I realized was that I used my home in a different way. The table was left longer clear. At the end of the day, the sofa was not cluttered with various things. There was less effort in cleaning and so I should have done it more frequently as opposed to procrastinating.
The storage unit itself was a part of my routine. Not in a nagging manner. More a reserve area I visited every now and then. I would leave things, take something and go. No stress, no urgency.
And there is the thing I had not supposed--I had forgotten most of what I had packed away.
Not everything. A little bit to know how small a portion of it I really needed about me. It was purposeful when I returned, as I was searching for something very particular rather than sifting through rubbish.
And the transformation stays with you.
It did not make my life in Hong Kong a different one when I started using a mini storage unit. It altered my circulation within my space, my handling of the stuff around me, and the amount of mental clatter that was created by the mere presence of too much stuff around me.