Twice in my life I've had to abandon/throw away over 90% of my possessions (clothes, accessories, tools, sculptures, books, etc.) because I had no feasible way of bringing and storing them in my next destination. Both of these times I effectively reduced the entirety of my material wealth to what I could carry on my back and pull along in a suitcase. It's not easy throwing away so much, but after it's done it really puts things into perspective. How your life doesn't change *that* much (so long as you're young I guess) if you are forced to go back to the pure essentials and start over again. Materialism is the result of wealth and comfort, but it's harder to build strength and character if you spend your life cushioned.