I admit that I've been minimizing my easiest possessions. How hard is it to part with a paring knife? Or get rid of old medication? Or even find new homes for a bunch of empty oatmeal containers?
The sentimental items have a strong hold on me. I suspect I'm not alone. I'm a pretty sentimental person. I like things that belonged to others, I keep track of stories of people and the things that belonged to the people. I look at some of the things I have and I think about who owned it or who gave it to me almost to the point of where the thing takes on a life of it's own.
BUT--the thing is NOT the person. I have to tell myself that A LOT because I have a lot of things from a lot of people.
It's hard to donate a cherished gift from Grandma-it's like we're getting RID of Grandma.
Or is it?
Is Grandma gone from our memory if we only keep 2 things that were hers? How about if we have nothing from Grandma but a nice photo? Is Grandma gone then?
Does keeping Grandma's things have meaning to those who will wind up owning those things when you die?
These are the kinds of questions I've been asking myself a lot lately about MY treasured possessions as we go through Brad's parents home and touch all the things that were theirs or the things that belonged to others that they treasured. If Brad's parents kept an item because it's important to them does that automatically mean WE must keep it, too?
I turned that around onto myself today as I looked into my scrapbook "room" and all the junk I've just been shoving in there because I thought I *had* to keep it. Would those items hold meaning to my children in 30 years?
My parents will either find this refreshing or they will gasp in horror as they realize that I might be getting rid of THEIR stuff.
Before I show off pictures of my very ugly scrapbook "room" I should explain what it actually is. Our home is an old home with many additions. FOUR additions to be exact and we put the fourth one on about 10 years ago. Instead of replacing the existing HVAC with a newer, larger capacity HVAC to accommodate the extra square footage we added, we chose to simply add a 2nd HVAC to the new space upstairs. The new HVAC needed a space, so a large closet with a window was born. This is my "room."
It's not that exciting and it needs a little gussying up-but not until I get a little more control on what I keep in there.
Out it all went! I do admit to keeping a little teeny tiny Red Wings jersey. They all 3 wore that and really, the Wings will NEVER go out of style. Oh, and I kept a knitted sweater my mom made and a little outfit they all wore at 3 months of age. THAT'S IT! The rest? Don't need it and it can all be donated to a crisis pregnancy shelter my neighbor told me about.
Also in the picture below is my broken Cricut. It died almost 1 year ago and despite many attempts to reset it, revive it, take it apart, toss it around-it just doesn't work. Brad even bought me a new Cricut Expressions 2 last week (thank you!!!) and now there's no need to try to force that old Cricut into coming back to life. Out it goes!
I put the gate back up to
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Purging a few sweaters and emptying out some drawers is nothing compared to the emotional items I need to minimize. What steps can you take to break that emotional hold that possessions have on you?
Day 1 email
Day 2 magazines
Day 3 kitchen tools
Day 4 junk drawer
Day 5 bathroom counter
Day 6 first aid & medicines
Day 7 kitchen sink
Day 8 plastic containers
Day 10 spices
Day 11 mail
Day 12 linen closet part 1
Day 13 linen closet part 2
Day 14 donate!!!
Day 5 bathroom counter
Day 6 first aid & medicines
Day 7 kitchen sink
Day 8 plastic containers
Day 10 spices
Day 11 mail
Day 12 linen closet part 1
Day 13 linen closet part 2
Day 14 donate!!!
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