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I first learned about the word ‘meuk’ from the maternity nurse when we had our first child. She was talking about all the useless presents we would be getting soon. All very cute but demanding a lot of space. Meuk can be those things that are too attractive (cute, funny, funky) to simply throw away and/or could potentially be very handy in some very specific future situation. These traits make them seem valuable, but they pile up more rapidly than we realize.
It was a new word to me then, but I rapidly grabbed the concept. (FYI, this baby turns 30 soon!)
By that time I had already noticed how IKEA kept selling us stuff which created a need for more cabinets and shelves to put it in and on. (Also sold at IKEA.) Then I realized that this created a market for cute boxes and clever organizers to help us intelligently use all our space. Then IKEA started championing clever hidden corner solutions. This all seemed more like a vicious circle to me than an intelligent way to spend my time and money—AKA my life.
It is hard to take a completely different approach to life-space if you are bombarded with the happy faces in brochures and ads. It is easy to feel awkward if you say no to junk and are growing awareness about the subtle differences between nice-to-haves, too-cute, necessary, stand-in-the-way-soon’s.
Basically, we, the people behind MEUCK, are against meuk. We wish for you to spend your life on more important stuff: things that aren’t stuff. ;-)
What do you consider meuk, and what would you like to avoid in your life?
