"...if the stuff you accumulate isn't actively helping get you closer to a life you truly want, then it's getting in the way, and it needs to go."-YES

My mom was a bit of a hoarder. Not in an OCD-the-house-is-an-unlivable-mess kind of way, but a let's-hold-on-to-this-half-broken-thing-because-you-never-know-we-might-need-it kind of way.

Our garage never had room for the car because it was filled with stuff. Filled up the garage, filled up the attic. Built a storage shed/house out back that rapidly became filled up and unavigable.

I could never get rid of stuff that I no longer wanted or hadn't used in years because "you might want it or need it again someday" or because "great-aunt somebody who you met once when you were 3 gave it to you." The packratitis is something I still find infuriating and annoying, though having been around it all the while growing up, I sucked up some of the habits. It used to be kind of bad with comic books, and I still do it to some extent with them and regular books now. I tend to binge and purge though, which is actually an improvement over the constant accumulation. The moving every few years helps with the purging as well. I understand the whole "let's not be wasteful" aspect, but on the other hand, the keeping stuff you'll never use aspect rubs me the wrong way even more.

So, in short, this book sounds awesome.

Merlin Mann reviews It's All Too Much, a book on decluttering - Boing Boing:

"...It's All Too Much is a terrific book that inverts the typical approach to dealing with existential kipple. Rather than helping you find new places and novel ways to "organize" all your crap, author Peter Walsh encourages you to explore why you ever kept all that junk in the first place. Does it reflect a fantasy waistline or a long-abandoned career? What about this "priceless" relic of a late loved one that's been sitting in a moldy trash bag for 10 years? Be honest: what place do these things have in the life that you imagine for yourself? Because, if the stuff you accumulate isn't actively helping get you closer to a life you truly want, then it's getting in the way, and it needs to go. Period.

...Imagine the life you want to live. I cannot think of a sentence that has had more impact on the lives of people I have worked with. ... When clutter fills your home, not only does it block your space, but it also blocks your vision.

...Most things that you save for the future represent hopes and dreams. But the money, space, and energy you spend trying to create a specific future are wasted. We can't control what tomorrow will bring. Those things we hoard for an imaginary future do little other than limit our possibilities and stunt our growth. When I urge you to get rid of them, I'm not telling you to discard your hopes and dreams. It's actually quite the opposite. Because if you throw out the stuff that does a rather shabby job of representing your hopes and dreams, you actually create room to make dreams come true."

From the comments - apropos - Merlin Mann reviews It's All Too Much, a book on decluttering - Boing Boing:

"Lose the stuff and free your mind.

And even if you're thinking 'no, I still want to make use of it!' -- if it's been more than a year and it's collecting dust, you've really already made your decision. You're not interested, even if you want to be or feel you should be. Own that and let it go."