How to Handle Sentimental Clutter
September 9, 2008
I don’t know about you, but I find myself with things stashed away in cabinets that I know I’ll never display or use again, but I just can’t bring myself to part with them because a certain person gave it to me. Or it evokes a wonderful memory from my past.
Marcia Francios over at Organising Queen has posted a couple of times now on a great idea to reduce sentimental clutter.
Take a picture! You can memorialize it in a photo album or in your blog. This way, you keep the visual stimulus of that person or memory without taking up the space!
Fantastic idea, Marcia – thanks!
How could you use this tip in your life?
This works also with children’s artwork and 3D contructions. Instead of keeping every piece of precious creativity a child’s ever made, simply take a photo of it. Even better, have the child in the photo as well, and you’ll record their size and age when they made it.
Angela Esnouf’s last blog post..Thanks Dymo and Peter
Great idea, Angela – thanks!!
Oh Man!
Thats My wife!
Frank’s last blog post..Hello world!
Well then Frank, better show her this post, eh? lol!
🙂 Eva
Well that is one idea that I totally disagree with! I am an oganisation junkie for sure (recently found out that my boss thinks I don’t have enough to do because my desk isn’t covered paper – literally only my computer and telephone are likely to be on my desk top when I leave for the day), but I refuse to get rid of sentimental items to reduce clutter.
Would you rather have your grandmother’s old toy to hold in your hands, or a photograph of it? I don’t imagine there are too many people who would choose the photograph, and yet that is all our future generations will have if we follow this idea.
Certainly most of what we think of as ‘clutter’ really is just that and should be disposed of at the earliest moment. But some of it is the beginnings of inherited treasures to be handed down through generations.
Ever watched Antiques Roadshow? Someone takes in a bowl that was their great-grandmother’s – to the great grand-mpther it may have been just an ordinary everyday bowl, but now it is a treasured piece of family history and may even be valuable. What a shame if that great-granmother’s daughter had taken a photo ‘to remind her of mom’ and then tossed out the bowl as a piece a clutter.
Thanks for your comment, Jocelyn!
I agree with you! I have a beautiful set of post WW2 Noritake china that my grandparents bought in Japan and a gorgeous enameled serving dish marked “Made in occupied Japan” on the bottom (I wonder what that’s worth?) that never get used and stay in my kitchen cabinet, but I would never dream of parting with them! But there have been plenty of trinkets collected over the years – a matchbook from the hotel where we spent out first anniversary, a dried play-dough sculpture my oldest made when he was small – these things are perfect candidates for this type of de-cluttering.
I am looking for inspiration to part with about 10 garbage bags of baby clothing that my 3 kids have worn. They are taking up much needed space even after storing some of them in a vaccuum sealed bag. I just find it heart wrenching at even the thought of donating them to charity or selling them on ebay. There is also no one in my family that I can pass them onto in the hopes of seeing them worn.
Help? I am drowning in baby clothes!!
We can operate only in the present; if we are burdened by the past, we neglect the present and run the risk of putting our life on hold. We cannot revive the past; we have to let it go. We don’t want to turn ordinary objects into relics and fail to realize that the “worshiped” objects are meaningless, there importance only related to a person or event that already took place. It is only our fear to let go that infuse meaning and significance to empty objects and let them clutter our space and mind.
Don’t allow the past to become an unwelcome ghost that can turn your vibrant present into nothingness. We don’t have any obligation toward material objects no matter what significant they were at one point in our life. The significance was not in the object but in the person and the experience behind it. It is only love that counts and objects do not love us back. Ask yourself: What is the worst thing that could happen if I get rid of this? You will realize that nothing bad will happen, on the contrary, you will feel light and liberated. Keep your treasures in your heart and mind where they belong.
Give yourself permission to keep a handful of objects and release the rest. A few selected objects that we can touch and display can bring us joy and peace and trigger fond memories. However boxes of stuff occupying needed space just because we are afraid of letting go is contra productive and have the potential of seriously impair our enjoyment of the present. Don’t be afraid to donate, recycle, or even throw away stuff. Allow objects of the past to exit your life completely. You’ll do your loved ones, the people you interact with, and yourself a big favor, if you are fully present in the life you’re leading NOW. Do not bury yourself in the past.
Sometimes we hesitate to get rid of objects which are expensive and beautiful, but if we do not have the space to store them and they are pulling us back, we need to release them to other people who will appreciate them. In return we will feel liberated as we allow the energy of the object to flow again. Other times we may feel emotionally attached to a tattered object just because it belonged to somebody dear and we cannot bear to throw it away. In cases like this remember that the memory and the love you feel is not in the stuff but in you. Do not transfer your precious feelings into the objects or allow them to become a substitute –leave this kind of behavior for idolaters.
The memories and love behind is all that counts. Only our hearts and minds can keep the treasure alive, not objects. Memories are positive energy that will always inspire us to live a more creative and full life.
I have an extremely difficult time parting with things that conjure up memories. I have recently begun to use a file box, and have a file for each member of the immediate family, a whole family file, and a vacation file, (where I might put brochures of places we went during a trip, etc.). The kids’ file might have cute notes they wrote to me or made in school, my husbands might have a card he gave me, the whole family one may have a ticket stub from a game or show we all went to, or putt-putt score cards, etc. This gives me a place for those things I keep running across that didn’t have a home before. It”s fairly compact, and is really helpful. Some people just have a need to save things like that! I gives you a cetain feeling to look at and hold things like nothing else can.
I am the same way, Wendy! That’s a great idea. I’ve done that with the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Not as organized, though – needs some work. Thanks for the inspiration!