Oh, I definitely try to help, although it is very very important to be respectful.

One friend showed me a bag with a heap of kiwi fruit fluff they had collected a decade ago. Nothing to see here.

One friend had too many tables, so I thought it might help them to grok the absurdity of that if I gave them a bunch more tables (tables which someone else was discarding): that didn’t work because they now have tables stacked up on one another. Nice enough tables, but I feel bad. Also it is very likely I will help them move . . .

I am semi-retired, but I still need to take care I am not wasting my time.

The free trailer load to the dump is fun mental jujutsu because dumping stuff isn’t cheap: someone who just can’t pass up a bargain trying to choose stuff to throw out for free! Needs a believable reason why it is “free” e.g. neighbour already paid me, or work is paying for it.

I haven’t done the book one exactly, but I have done similar.

I'm crashing at my parents atm (including my family).

Counted 10 chairs in one room - they are couple of 70 year olds that never have guests.

7 mops in bathroom. About 20 huge bowls in one of kitchen drawers.

I'm just trying to offload the excess to some storage to make their (and mine) lives easier, but oh boy.

I counted more than 200 dishes in a house of 2 :(

For the tables, in some markets they're primed for being upcycled and you can make some pretty bucks.

Careful with this, it's the thinking process which leads to hoarding behavior if unchecked.

Have you already refurbished a couple tables just for fun? It might make sense to flip some furniture as a hobby.

If you haven't, this is a recipe for being that guy with too many tables, whose friends drive by with a half-filled trailer and ask, politely, if maybe they want to throw something away today.

I think I understand your feeling. The thing that makes me most empathetic with my family and friends is visiting them at their house and witnessing their struggling with stuff. It looks like a physical equivalent to the emotions and feelings in which we often find ourselves entrapped.

A light dose of psychedelics does wonders for me in this regard. I’ll suddenly look at my place and see as if for the first time that thing that’s been laying around for weeks. “Oh, I put it there because I was anxious for this and that. Of course that’s not its place. Let’s move it where it belongs.” I love my mostly empty house, there’s so much space to move around and breathe.

>constant forward progress in downsizing not just your own possessions

Or at least keep it in a steady state past some point. I've been in my current house for 25 years and I find that I need to allocate time now and then to go through and clean out some clothes, books, electronics, etc. Especially with a fair bit of storage space it can be tempting to just toss something in the attic because it's easier than getting of it--especially for bulkier items.