Decluttering update

Decluttering has been going great! I’m so excited! I actually do see progress. Seeing what's left neatly arranged makes me happy. The best way to organize your home is to get rid of stuff. The more I give away, the more I want to give away! When you keep only what brings you joy, you realize there's really not much you want to hold on to.

My kitchen cupboards are in order. My paperwork is down to one filing container. My basement is coming along. I had way more than I thought I did. I don't really want to bring any of it with me when I move. But I will keep a few tools. I also have a few pieces of vintage furniture that need repairing. But now that everything is out of the way, I can finally take care of them.
I got rid of most of my Christmas decorations. I've wanted to do that for a long time. I don't like going through all of the trouble to decorate for a couple of weeks. Moving stuff out of the way to make room for the Christmas tree and other decorations. All this for a couple of weeks to then take everything down and put it away in boxes making more of a mess to clean up and taking up space.

I've kept it for all these years and even added to it because I felt like it was socially expected of me and my daughter loves it. I talked with her about it and she agreed to get rid of everything except for the lights. She said that the lights are what she enjoys the most out of all of the decorations. "Deal!" We shook on it. She seemed satisfied. So I packed up everything else and got rid of it. It feels great!

I'm not a big meanie. I will make it up to my daughter. Either we take a trip during Christmas vacation or I'll take her around town to visit nicely decorated houses. I think she'll enjoy that experience more than decorating our home. She's always been more appreciative of the time we spend together than anything else.

I've spent hours over a few days digitizing my CDs only to realize that I don't even need a digital version of most if not all of them. My taste in music has changed. I probably won't even listen to most of what I've digitized. And I can listen to any song for free online. Oh well, it's done now.

I was a little more selective scanning my photos. That process was emotional. Seeing photos of the people I love that have passed away. Photos of me when I was younger. Photos of my daughter when she was just a baby. They were all bringing back so many memories. Some good. Some bad. Time goes by so fast!

I was afraid that I wouldn't learn much from going through this process of getting rid of things because I'm giving to charity more than I'm selling. Selling is more work than giving. So donating seemed like "the easy way out". However, I've given away so much and it's been so much work bringing it all to donate that I feel I've learned my lesson. I will not acquire so much in the future. I will not let my possessions get out of control like I have before. It's all just stuff and I didn't realize how much it was weighing me down. The fear of letting go has left me. I'm finally giving myself freedom from it all and it feels fantastic!

I still have more to get rid of. Can't wait to be done!

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