Saturday is our 17th wedding anniversary. 17 years!!! Where has the time gone? To see what I thought about making for our 16th wedding anniversary (and still haven't) check out last year's post HERE.
Anyway, for 17 years I've been holding onto my wedding shoes. I haven't worn them in at least 15 of those years. Why was I holding onto them? Well, they were my wedding shoes, isn't that a good enough reason?
No.
One of the things I talked about were different kinds of clutter or reasons we hold onto things.
Sentimental clutter is when we hold onto things from our past (because it reminds us of the good times and has a sense of meaning). That's not entirely bad, we do get a feeling of happiness from
sentimental items and it's okay to keep a few of these meaningful items. But let's face it, we don't live in a museum and most of us have limited storage space, so we can't keep everything. We should make room
for the handful of valuable-to-you items that aren't actually
clutter, and get rid of the rest of the stuff that holds little to no value. My wedding shoes that I hadn't worn in years were taking up valuable shoe space in my closet. I tried them on thinking I might wear them again. But they were uncomfortable. I guess after all those years, either my feet have changed or the shoes have worn out so they were no longer comfortable. So now I had shoes that were not comfortable and that I would never wear taking up space in my closet. It wasn't hard for me to decide that they should go.
Getting rid of items that have sentimental value isn't always that easy. There can be a lot of emotion involved and let's face it, anything you've held on to for a long time can be hard to get rid of.
Below are a few ideas to hopefully make the process of decluttering a little bit easier when it comes to things that have meaning but you don't have the space for.
1. Take a picture of the item and keep only
the picture.
2. Write a journal entry about the item
before you get rid of it. The act of writing down the memory will let you think
about the experience, which is usually more valuable than the object itself.
3. Invite friends or family over for a "Nostalgia
Night". Reminisce about the items. You can even record your conversations about them. If anyone wants the items, let them go to a good home. Make sure to donate or throw away what is left.
4. Make a deal with yourself to only keep
sentimental items that will fit in a specific sized container/box.
5. Choose to keep 1 or 2 keepsake items.
Then commit to caring for, and storing them properly.
Ensure keepsakes and memorabilia are not
crowding out what really belongs in your closet. Creating a space for these items
should not get in the way of your everyday life. You should not have to hunt
and peck your way through old photo albums to find your car's jumper cables.
If you are going to keep special items, make sure to store things properly. Move the wedding
dress, baby blankets, and childhood keepsakes, into storage containers and then
into the basement or attic (away from moisture and heat). Do not keep them
mixed in with things you use regularly. If you're displaying items like old
photographs, make sure where you display them isn't getting in the way or your daily life.
By getting rid of things that are cluttering up your life, you can have more time, space and energy for the things that matter most.
