“There are 2.3 billion square feet of self-storage in America, or more than 7 square feet for every man, woman and child… It’s now “physically possible that every American could stand–all at the same time—under the total canopy of self-storage roofing,” boast the Self Storage Association. There are about 51,000 storage facilities in the country—more than four times the number of McDonalds.
The storage shed is a symptom of our cluttered lives. Clutter is the cholesterol of the home; it’s clogging the hearth…We’re crowding ourselves out of our houses. And it’s not just stuff. Work has come home. Home offices are like small, overwhelmed rail yards, heaped with paper and tangled with cords for all the devices…Entertainment has come home, too. There are more TVs than people in the average home…
Somewhere in there, between the physical and virtual clutter, we are losing the ordinary qualities of home—the solitude to recollect, the time for families to talk…Clutter is choking our shelters. Is there any room left for us in our houses? … What’s keeping you from living?”
Howard Mansfield in “An American Dilemma: Your Clutter or Your Life” from the Denver Post, September 29, 2013.
I must thank my wife, Jenni, for clipping this article for me and for helping my family minimize clutter so our house is a sanctuary filled with God’s presence and plenty of space for living life!