I'm taking a page from the book Arthur's Honey Bear. In that book, Violet cleans out her toy box. She makes two piles. One to keep, and one to throw away.
One thing that was NOT on my new years resolution list was throwing things away. I need to learn how to get rid of items I no longer need, want, ot use. I have an amazing capavity for sentimentality. I think I get this from my parents. I have, for example, about thirty books on tape. These were useful while I drove 50 miles to work EACH WAY every single day. But now that I only listen to the Wiggles, now that the car I drive doesn't even have a tape player, now that I con't even know where a tape player is and couldn't even listen to the SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris this year while wrapping gifts, LIKE I ALWAYS USED TO... I still can't throw them out. They were a lot of money! What if I want them one day? That tea set Aunt Martha gave me, the one that says "DO NOT USE" on the box and have pink roses and frilly lacy sharp bits sticking out of it? I can't just give that away - AUNT MARTHA GAVE IT TO ME! And this figurine of a cat? I've had it since I was twelve - I might need to pass it on to my grandchildren. Just like these Yoko Tsuno and Lucky Lucke comics which are sitting here in my living room and NOBODY READS! Mostly becasue they are in French.
Besdies being sentimental, I have trouble trashing something that is perfectly good. I have a bunch of dishes we never use. I don't want to throw them away! They are still good! And clothes we don't wear - they are good! This ugly statue of the naked lady doing her hair? It's not broken or anything! It's art! Someone might want it!
So I keep everything. I have boxes of old journals and old items. Scripts from college plays. Old love letters. A whole closet of puzzles I have already completed. And a few I haven't but haven't been able to work on because what's the point when the cats and the kids gang up on you and you find piles of chewed puzzle bits stored carefully inside your shoes the next morning?
Here are some things I CAN throw away: Old computer stuff and wires and remote controls that have no home. (Steve insists we keep all these, so you see the difficulty.)
Here's the plan: Slowly go through the house. Items I use or have a STRONG sentimental attachment to stay out. A few sentimental items get stored away for me. Anything else gets trashed. If for some reason I can't see throwing it away it gets stored in the TAG SALE pile. And then one day, I will sell it all on ebay or set up camp in my driveway... or maybe send it all to my Aunt Frances - if they are still up to doing yard sales.
4 comments:
This is why I love living pretty much next door to a charity shop - if you decide that something can go you take it round right away. And since it's so close you can go in your slippers, maybe even leave the front door open if someone else is in (so you don't have to even pick up a key), and you definitely don't take any money so you can't buy anything new.
On another note I've tried seeling stuff on ebay and books on amazon marketplace. The only problem with that is having somewhere to keep them until they do sell.
Happy de-cluttering :-)
Did you get to Anne-E's short story with the series of letters? The one called "Dear Mug?" I think only we could understand it.
The room I was staying in at the Osborne has more collective crap from our lives than any other living space any of us live in across the globe. There's possibly more stuff and clutter there than the storage unit in New Jersey. There is no room for order. Things are piled on top of each other to the ceiling. They cramp up all of the walking spaces. The room also acts as a blackhole for all of the things that you WANT to use regularly and at the present moment.
At least you can get rid of things like old wires and old computer stuff. Winston wouldn't let me get rid of the two broken laptops in the room because he uses them as props sometimes.
Donate. Donate. Donate. It's recycling at it's most useful & you don't have to store it until...until the sale, until I take the pictures fior ebay, until whatever! I just took a bunch of coats & 2 jackets to the local hospital...including a perfectly good, but old cashmere coat, a wool coat in such good shape they asked if it was new & 2 jackets. Next, it's the book pile -- there are books in those piles I have been saying I will read for years -- they're going to the hospital next!
(I loved Dear Mug!)
kathleen,
don't listen to what jamie says: nothing is worse than that storage unit in new jersey... i was just there and there is no way to properly describe the triviality of the crap that has been sitting in there for (gulp) five years now. winston and i were both very proud of ourselves for not losing the key.
i wish you success in your early spring cleaning endeavor but let's face it: everyone knows you're only getting rid of stuff so you'll have space in which to accumulate more stuff. and this is fine: i'm thinking it's just a part of the western human condition. but enjoy the few moments where there's actually space in that space you're making.
love and love,
emily
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