The Ghost Bowl

I have long been of the opinion that we own more than we ever use. In my last post, I provided a possible solution to that dilemma with regard to clothes: wear your clothes in order (see Are You Wearing All Those Clothes?) The same principle can be applied to other possessions of which we have multiples, such as items in the kitchen.

It’s common for dishes, flatware, and drinking glasses to come in packages of 6 or 8. But when we use them, we always take the one off the top of the pile or from the front of the cabinet, right? How often are you using the ones in the back or at the bottom of the pile?

This phenomenon became obvious to me recently when I took a good look at my salad bowl. Ever since I worked with a nutritionist 11 years ago and lost 40 pounds (see Lightening the Load), I have had a salad with my lunch every day.  While I occasionally rotate my plates so that the ones on the bottom of the pile get used, I apparently had not been doing this with my bowls.

Thanks to its daily excursion through the dishwasher, the salad bowl I use every day has been completely stripped of its decorative design. For comparison, I pulled out the bowl from the bottom of the pile, which demonstrates the pattern. Interestingly, the places where the pattern used to be are whiter than the rest of the bowl, turning it into a sort of palimpsest (great word — look it up!) I have named this piece of dishware The Ghost Bowl.

I rarely have the opportunity to view so clearly how we use the same items over and over again. I’m not suggesting that I should get rid of all the rest of my bowls, as they are often needed at other meals. However, The Ghost Bowl illustrates that I need to pay attention to what I’m not using so that I can consider reducing what I own.

We recently had a flood on an upper floor of our building, and water flowed into my kitchen. Cleaning it up required me to remove all of the mugs, glasses, and stemware from one cabinet where the water came in. After cleaning them and putting them back a few days later, I ended up giving away three pieces of mismatched stemware (which were happily scooped up on Buy Nothing) and three commemorative mugs (which were given to a friend).

If your kitchen cabinets don’t feel too crowded, then there’s no need to take any action. But if you are feeling crowded out of your kitchen, empty the offending shelf and then put back only what you know you are using. Give away the rest.

Now I’m off to eat my lunch and put The Ghost Bowl into action.