Lost & Found: Nine life-changing lessons about stuff from someone who lost everything

Why do we buy and keep the things we do, and how can we live a less cluttered life? Journalist Helen Chandler-Wilde dives deep to explore, explain, and guide us on the path to liberation from the tyranny of “too much.”
 

On New Year's Eve of 2018, Helen Chandler-Wilde lost everything she owned in a storage unit fire in Croydon, England, where she'd stowed all her possessions after a big breakup. She was left devastated and forced to re-evaluate her relationship with owning material things.

In Lost & Found, she offers a profound mix of memoir, self-help, and journalism toexplore the psychological reasons, sociological quirks of human nature, and fascinating science behind why we buy and hold onto things. Helen interviews people from all walks of life, including behavioral psychologists on the science of nostalgia, a nun on what it's like to own almost nothing, and consumer psychologists on why we spend impulsively, to help us better understand why we're surrounded by clutter and what we can do to change it.

By the end of this smart-thinking book filled with lessons and engaging prompts to help us gain perspective on our buying habits and the value we place on what we already have, your relationship with your belongings will be changed forever. The perfect “new year, new you” read or gift for anyone who is downsizing, striving for a more sustainable lifestyle, or is eager to cultivate a minimalist mindset.

Helen Chandler-Wilde is a news and features journalist at Bloomberg. Previously, she worked at The Telegraph writing long-reads, analyses, and coverage of the human tales behind the headlines. She studied social sciences and Italian at UCL and holds an MA in journalism from City University. Helen lives in south London, and in her free time, she likes to read, cook, and rummage through charity shops.