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How the hell do you get rid of things?Thanks to a mother who loves me and never throws anything away, I've still got my grade school report cards and every dress I wore to ballroom dancing school. Not to mention things I have hoarded myself. My brain says detach, but my heart says this will have some meaning at some time. What is your policy?
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6 Answers
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If I haven't worn or thought about something in a year, out it goes (recycling, Goodwill, trash, whatever is applicable). Exceptions are tax forms and other official documents that you need to keep for legal reasons.
That said, you don't necessarily need to go about ruthlessly culling all of your old things down to nonexistence. Maybe keep your favorite ballroom dress and donate the rest. If you don't really like Kewpies (or whatever) anymore, hawk them on eBay but keep the one your now-deceased grandma gave you. That kind of thing.
I suggest not tossing old photos, though. It was rare that I'd wished that I hadn't taken as many photos as i did (I lost almost all of my photos from college in a flood, and I miss them).
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Move. Short of that, act like you are moving and go through everything. Make a big pile for goodwill a medium size pile for the trash and a smaller pile of things you want to keep. Be brutal and really try to keep only those things that are really special.
The process of going through things gives you a chance to reminisce which is why you keep stuff in the first place. Getting rid of stuff will make you feel unburdened and happy.
When we moved several years ago I found rent receipts from our first apartment in the eighties. It was fun to see them and I kept one and framed it. The rest are gone now for the better.
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If you really want motivation, watch the A&E TV show "Hoarders."
I'm completely serious!
I am also a collector...bordering on hoarder of collections...between watching "Clean House" and "Hoarders" I have started giving up a LOT of my junk and I'm hoping to give up more and quit shopping.
"Hoarders" is a seriously frightening look at how things can get really really bad.
For example, on one show there was a mother who was a hoarder and her 7-year-old son started showing symptoms of hoarding too...his mother finally figured out it was time to get help when she went to throw away a cotton ball and her son cried "mommy, don't throw that away, it is my favorite cotton ball!"
So far there are two or three people that I would vote for a tie for worst hoarders. One couple had hundreds of dead cats in their house (shudder), one woman had piles of rotting food that she insisted on keeping AND eating (shudder) and one guy had feces all over the only bathroom he had in his apartment (shudder)...
But, I do understand how it can get that way...at some point you just have to put limits on the clutter and throw things out, but serious hoarders really have SERIOUS problems and they need HELP...
Anyway, watch the show and you will get inspiration...it is very sad...
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My grandma had a good strategy with this. Pack these things up in boxes and stick them in the attic/basement/out of sight.
Now, wait a year. If you do need any of the things in the boxes over the course of the year, take out anything that you do need. At the end of the year, anything still in the boxes goes to Goodwill/trash (preferably unopened so that you don't have to think about it!).
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This is tougher when it's stuff from childhood. Do you plan on having children? lf motherhood is in your future, consider keeping a few things that you could pass down from generation to generation as a sentimental heirloom. You could probably do away with report cards if you aren't attached to them in any way. l have a bunch of the stuff l grew up with from my mother's storage when l moved here, and l have to say that what she chose to keep is probably some of the most important stuff to me as a child; l don't plan on throwing any of that away.
Also, l'm from a family that prizes family heirlooms and likes to pass shit on that often has meaning only in its sentimental value, but is meaningful nonetheless. You might ask your mother first if there's anything *she* would like to keep; l'm sure there will be one or two items. After that, l'd go with really objectively assessing what might matter later, and what's not as important to you. lt's one thing to clear clutter, but another to throw out stuff that might have some intrinsic value. l don't think there's any need to detach from things that bring good memories, unless it's cluttering up your place so severely it's impeding your ability to live comfortably.
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If you happen to put those ball dresses in a free box on the corner, could you tell me where and when? ;)
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