Sometimes we need to know when to say 'when'. Deciding what items to move away from and when to do so can be daunting; so much so that we tend to push it towards the bottom of our to do lists. In Gail Blanke's book, Throw Out Fifty Things, she encourages you to push yourself through the psychological barriers that cause you to create clutter in the first place. "If you want to grow, you gotta let go," is Blanke's mantra; that means eliminating the clutter (physical and emotional) that holds you back.
I absolutely support this approach to letting go of items once they've served their value. When we obtain an object, whether it was purchased, gifted or willed, we should accept it with the understanding that it will serve a purpose. And when that purpose is served, it's time to move it out of our lives.
Many people find it hard to let go of an item for one of these reasons: financial, emotional or practical. Because we paid $$ for it, it was given to us by someone special or it could be useful in the future is NOT a good reason to keep any item past its expiration date. I'm not saying there aren't exceptions to these rules- they're surely are (and good ones!) Although, generally speaking, one should assess the purpose value of an item and determine if that purpose is still valid.
Discarding a material item won't remove your memory attached to it. Even though that couch was your first big purchase in your first apartment (ahem, 3 apartments ago), it's simply taking up space in your new home. And sure, those jeans might come back in style and you could possibly fit into them but, in the meantime, they're taking up space in your closet. Maybe you're not ready to get rid of 50 things but try starting with 5...or 10...or 20. Just start somewhere (I promise, that'll be the hardest part).
Maybe this book will help motivate you to move a few things out. And these are good reads, too. Or maybe they'll just get you thinking about it. Either way, clearing out a little clutter makes ways for big things to happen- they might just need some extra room.
Tell me, Appleshiners, what have you moved out of your life lately?
4 comments:
I love your blog and your website! I've been slowly trying to get rid of clutter and your site is an inspiring place that keeps me on track.
On the pickier side of things, I noticed this glaring grammatical error on your post:
"is NOT a good reason to keep any item past it's expiration date."
Augh! So many otherwise professional sites make this mistake! Please, PLEASE double check your writing. "It's" is only used as a contraction of "it is." You would never say, "keep any item past it is expiration date." Every time I see this kind of mistake on a professional website, I wince and wonder what other details have gone unnoticed in the business.
Nina,
Thank you so much for pointing that out. I absolutely agree that making a grammatical mistake is unprofessional and I will strive to keep this blog free from error.
Thanks, again, for your support. I look forward to your feedback in the future as I hope to get things up and running again soon.
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