This particular blog has several valuable insights and ideas. After listing some clutter items, she writes:
Some of these things made me smile,
some made me cry, but each of them brought me out of my life and into my past.
As I started going through the sentimental, the ticket stubs, the letters, my
mind wasn’t here anymore… but back there.
And, in an effort to hold on tight I
thought, “it’s not hurting anything or anyone to keep this stuff” and then I
remembered that I want my standard to be more in line with “how is this
helping?” instead of “how is this not hurting?”
I don’t want my legacy to be storage
containers of stuff. In one hundred years, no one will care about a letter of
recommendation I received from an art professor that meant so much to me. No
one will care how excited I was to get a ticket to a sold out concert at the
last-minute. The stuff won’t matter, but the stories will.
Your Sentimental Clutter
Questions
What do I do with old
birthday/Valentines/other greeting cards? You might choose to save a few, or jot down a few of your
favorite words before you let them go. If you want to recycle the cards, cut
them in half, toss the personal and send a card of your own written on the back
of the cover.
What about yearbooks full of
personal notes? When I looked at my old high
school yearbooks, I couldn’t remember who wrote what. The messages that were
very personal in 1987 couldn’t compare to the little notes that I exchange
today with my family or a good Skype conversation with my sister. Assess the
meaning of those messages in your life today. If they aren’t relevant, release
them. Let go to let in.
How do you let go of stuff that
has been handmade lovingly for you, but it is not your taste? This is a tough question and the answer is more for the gift
givers and creators. If you do make things or have a specific craft or art
specialty, ask your friends and family if they would like you to make them
something OR if you can make something for a local organization in their name.
For instance, if you are a quilter, you could make a quilt for a homeless
shelter in the name of a friend. When you give a gift, include permission to
pass it on without hurt feelings.
As the recipient of arts and crafts
(I’m an artist so I don’t take this lightly), ask the artist if you can donate
the item to a place that could really benefit like a fundraising auction,
library, retirement home, or appropriate venue/event.
What about things that can’t be
donated, such as extra monogrammed wedding glasses? Even monogrammed items are useful to people who don’t have
the item to begin with. If you aren’t using them, give them away.
How can I best help others to
let go of sentimental items? Share your
story. Share this post. Be loving and patient.
Whats the most effective way to
store it if you keep it? There is
always a chance that what you store will be lost, broken or forgotten. Instead,
take a picture. Take on the shoot your stuff
mini-mission or read Markus Almond’s
simplicity in action story for inspiration.
What about wedding day stuff? Great photographs are enough for me to remember my wedding
day and the people who celebrated the event. I gave my wedding dress away last
year but clipped a tiny piece of material from my dress and my mother’s wedding
dress. They are pinned together and if someday my daughter wants to pin them
into her wedding dress, she can.
How about things from our
children’s childhoods? If your
children are grown, give them their stuff and trust them to decide what to do
with it. Give them permission to keep it or get rid of it so they don’t hold
onto it for you. If your children are younger, lovingly display their artwork
and report cards and instead of saving all of it, save a few pieces or
photograph them and make a digital memory book for your child. I have a small
box of my daughter’s things for her and if she decides that they aren’t
important, I’ll support that.
You don’t have to let it all go at
once. Take it slowly, honor your memories and identify your
whys. Moving forward, instead of capturing moments and boxing
them up, embrace them. Be fully engaged and moved right now instead of when you
are sorting through the past in a garage or attic.
Let your legacy be how you love, how
you treat people and the light you bring to this world instead of the stuff you
left behind.
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