I am kind of a pack rat. I confess it. I have a tendency to think "I might need this someday," or "One day when _____, this will be perfect for X" and then I keep stuff.
I also am a sucker for sentimental things. When my grandmother (not if, when) offers me things that SHE is purging, she weaves a story about how these things were used every Christmas (tradition) or this item was once really loved by a deceased ancestor (how could either of us get rid of something like THAT?!) or this _______ was something that I used to do with my grandfather. We cry together and I take the trinket. Unfortunately, while some of the things are nice, others are beautiful only in the eye of the beholder. Since she loves them, I love them and keep them and accumulate them. I really do have deep emotional ties to all of these things since they all carry a memory that I hold dear.
Patrick is a pack rat. He has tons of items that we never use that he owned before we were married. They take up more space than my stuff, and they are NOT sentimental items (thus I am more justified than he).
About once a year the "PURGE BUG" hits me and I go crazy. Last year it was cleaning out every piece of junk mail and church bulletin that Patrick had ever received and going through every birthday card that I was ever given . . . ever. For ONE DAY, all my sentimental feelings go out the door. When they do, I get rid of as much stuff as possible.
NOTE: I have only four small dresser drawers--the paper trash had THREE dresser drawers. Literally. They were in a dresser of their own. My cards were in a box under the dresser, BTW.
This year, I am getting rid of all of the miscellaneous glasses, stemware, microwave cookbooks (there are about ten hard bound copies), magazines, and, if I persevere, paint cans. I already have boxes of glassware ready to go to the Goodwill, but now there are literally 25-30 one gallon cans of paint (um, our home has a few different colors) stacked in both my storage closet and my laundry room. Talk about a waste of SPACE!
Thankfully, there is no emotional attachment to any of these things. I am able to PURGE. Don't touch my stuff, though. They're mine. My letters, my Santa mugs, my antique sewing machine, my rusted ladle that Mommom used to serve soup . . .
I also am a sucker for sentimental things. When my grandmother (not if, when) offers me things that SHE is purging, she weaves a story about how these things were used every Christmas (tradition) or this item was once really loved by a deceased ancestor (how could either of us get rid of something like THAT?!) or this _______ was something that I used to do with my grandfather. We cry together and I take the trinket. Unfortunately, while some of the things are nice, others are beautiful only in the eye of the beholder. Since she loves them, I love them and keep them and accumulate them. I really do have deep emotional ties to all of these things since they all carry a memory that I hold dear.
Patrick is a pack rat. He has tons of items that we never use that he owned before we were married. They take up more space than my stuff, and they are NOT sentimental items (thus I am more justified than he).
About once a year the "PURGE BUG" hits me and I go crazy. Last year it was cleaning out every piece of junk mail and church bulletin that Patrick had ever received and going through every birthday card that I was ever given . . . ever. For ONE DAY, all my sentimental feelings go out the door. When they do, I get rid of as much stuff as possible.
NOTE: I have only four small dresser drawers--the paper trash had THREE dresser drawers. Literally. They were in a dresser of their own. My cards were in a box under the dresser, BTW.
This year, I am getting rid of all of the miscellaneous glasses, stemware, microwave cookbooks (there are about ten hard bound copies), magazines, and, if I persevere, paint cans. I already have boxes of glassware ready to go to the Goodwill, but now there are literally 25-30 one gallon cans of paint (um, our home has a few different colors) stacked in both my storage closet and my laundry room. Talk about a waste of SPACE!
Thankfully, there is no emotional attachment to any of these things. I am able to PURGE. Don't touch my stuff, though. They're mine. My letters, my Santa mugs, my antique sewing machine, my rusted ladle that Mommom used to serve soup . . .
1 comment:
good for you!! doesn't it feel so good to get rid of things? sometimes, while i'm cleaning out, i think, how did i get all this stuff?!
love your blog!
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