Last week we took another two full garbage bags to Goodwill. More clothes, some shoes, some random house things we haven’t needed since January, and all of our winter gear. (Quick side note – it is April 30th and snowing here in Colorado… maybe we donated our boots a little too soon.)
I continue to be amazed at how much STUFF we have gotten rid of. There have been so many purges over the last six months. Last Fall we held a garage sale and happily sold a great deal of furniture, books, holiday decorations, and bar-wares. I thought the house was basically empty. And then we sold more things and donated even more things. In January we moved into a dear friend’s condo – transitioning from a 2,000 square foot house down to one bedroom – while our house was put on the market. Again, we downsized. Every time I swear that we have nothing more to give, there are another two garbage bags headed to Goodwill. I am sure we’ll have one more purge before we hit the road next week.
One of the questions I’ve received during the last few months is what it felt like to get rid of so much. Some people have said it must feel so liberating, others are aghast at how we can get rid of things like keepsakes and creature comforts. The honest truth is that it has been like ripping off a bandaid. It was hard at first! The old “what if we need that someday” feeling kept coming up. Having a set goal in mind, though, made it easier. Then, as the “keep-pile” dwindled and the “get-rid-of-pile” grew, it became easier and easier. The more we purged, the more I wanted to toss out. Now I wonder why we had all that STUFF for so long!
Do you have that box of ticket stubs, birthday cards, and high school certificates tucked away in a closet somewhere? I bet you do. Between Nicholas and I, we had three or four of them. We’ve moved them across state lines and from house to house over the last 16 years. We added to them. We stored them away and never looked back. Until a few months ago as we purged all of those, too. The “keepsakes” boxes were my favorite thing to get rid of. Not because I didn’t love the things in the boxes, but because Nicholas and I spent hours going through everything together. We relived our first vacation, our early Valentine’s Days, and tons of other memories that filled our lives. Now, with our next adventure on the horizon, we’ll start to make new memories and probably start stashing away new keepsakes. I can’t wait to go through those boxes someday.
If not now, when? That’s been our motto throughout this move. If you’re not going to look at those keepsake boxes, when? If you’re not going to clean out your closet now, when? If you’re not going to take that vacation now, when? Don’t let the fear hold you back. Rip off the bandaid!
