I am on a bit of a quest. A friend of mine recently got news that she was moving cross-country to Florida. She took a fresh eye to her home and its' possessions, and began donating / selling all the things that she didn't need or love. The transfer fell through, but she admits that she is so thankful that it gave her the push she needed to create a home that is unencumbered by "things." I have visited her home since, and it has a peace and comfort unknown before, simply because all the "stuff" that made it somewhat chaotic is gone.
I have been feeling a real need to get out from under all our stuff as well. The kids, now teens, desparately want to turn part of hte basement into a game room/lounge where they can entertain friends and comfortably have sleep overs. I would love this, as we no longer have a comfortable place for guests to stay. But until I can let go of a LOT of accumulated goods, there is just no room.
I did a little self-analysis, and realized that I have three major issues that I have to overcome. The first problem is that I suffer from crafting ADHD. I pursue a new craft, say knitting, and focus intently on developing it. As soon as I develop the smallest bit of competentcy, I go wild. I don't just buy some fun yarns for one or two projects. I buy enough yarn for two dozen projects, many far beyond my ability level. I somehow convince myself that I need every size needles, totes, and patterns. Then , after a few years and only a quarter of the planned projects completed, my interest fizzles out.
Meanwhile, the boxes and bins of accumulated craft stuff from previous craft infatuations---scrapbooking, stamping, cross-stitch, crocheting, jewelry making, decorative painting, and sewing---sit taking up space. It is time for me to give myself my own craft Ritalin...a reality check. Which of these craft flings truly satisfies me? Which am I merely keeping the makings out of guilt for having overspent?
I have determined that I truly love sewing, although more for crafts and gifts than to make clothing for myself. It relaxes me, and I get great satisfaction from it. Plus, I have this fabulous machine that I haven't even begun to explore (with an embroidery feature.) So, the sewing stuff stays.
Crochet also is a fun occasional diversion, and my hooks take up little space.
But knitting, scrapbooking and all the others just aren't doing it for me anymore. Yet I have so much stuff that I have avoided dealing with the pleasure factor. Scrapbooking especially holds this added guilt, because I was completely into it, creating wonderful books through ten years of memories. Now, I sit with the last 5-6 years of photos, waiting to be placed into lovely layouts.
Sunday night, I decided to attack the yarn. One of my students is an avid knitter, who spends hours knitting caps and scarves for patients in a mission clinic that her mother (a doctor) volunteers at each summer. I gathered up two huge bags full of unwanted yarn. I am so happy to know that by giving it to Meg, it not only brings her joy, but joy to many others as well. I kept one set of each size needles, but got rid of all the extras I had accumulated. I went through pattern books, and kept only those that had projects I loved in them, and donated the rest as well. Then, I gave myself permission to toss UFOs that just weren't working for me. AAAhhhh!
I plan to do that same with the scrapbooking material, and will then just put the photos into old fashioned albums. Maybe one day when the kids are grown, I might decide to scrapbook those years. If that day comes, I can just buy the materials then. No need to clutter up my world! I will follow suit with all the other goodies, until everything crafty will fit INSIDE the craft cabinet, without extra bins and totes all over the place.
The second problem is that I am terribly frugal, so I have tended to accumulate a great deal of gently used items, "just in case." It is really difficult for me to just get rid of our gently used coffee maker just because we won a nicer model in a drawing. But years of this "just in case" mentality has lead to overflowing cabinets and shelving units.
This can be easily remedied. Yesterday, I loaded up the truck and took an overflowing load to the local Battered Women and Children's shelter. Gently used housewares and linens are sorted and given to families starting over , for their new apartments and new lives. Double aaaahhh!
The third issue is that I am unreasonable passionate about collecting certain things. My book collecting has just gotten out of control. I have thousands, literally. While some are beloved favorites, many more I hold on to just because I love to collect books. Yet in a small Cape Cod within fifteen miles of FOUR amazing libraries, I need to address this addiction.
Two weeks ago, I went through one book case and gathered up 150 books that I took to donation. This week, I took another 100. I packed up another 50 of the children's favorites, to store in the attic for their children.
I also donated tons of magazine pertaining to crafting, and gathered up another box of Kids' Discover , Ranger Rick and Birds 7 Blooms for a friend with littles who love to make lapbooks.
I also began boxing up unwanted items for June's curriculum sale, and have another two crates to sell on ebay in lots. All totalled, I have just sorted out 500 or more. And I am not halfway through....triple aaahh!
Now, when I walk in the basement, I am realizing that I am very close to reorganizing the space to creating the kid's gameroom. More than that, I am feeling utterly unencumbered by all these accumulated goods. I have a feeling that the rest of the house will be getting a thorough thinning out this spring, because this feels GREAT!
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11 comments:
Yeah You!!
I'm working on this a bit as well. We realized recently that we have no room to enjoy our new passions when we are storing the old ones.
I've been sorting,cleaning,donating and
preparing for sale for the last couple of weeks...ready for spring.
;-)
This is fabulous. And sounds like a lot of work. I always have to do this kind of thing in waves. Get rid of what feels comfortable now and in a few months have another pass.
Here's what struck me in your post, though. And I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I mean it kindly.
You said "The second problem is that I am terribly frugal, so I have tended to accumulate a great deal of gently used items, "just in case.""
This is NOT frugal. Yes, each item you bought was a lot cheaper than buying new. But you did not need that item. Therefore, it was an extravagance regardless of the price. And if you read the rest of that paragraph that becomes more clear.
You are not the only one to suffer from this misunderstanding of frugality. In fact, it is quite widespread. Other manifestations include buying things that are on sale "because it is such a good bargain". 2 for 1 sales can be particularly bad for this.
It is much more frugal, in the end, to pay full price for a good quality item you need when you need it and then maintain it to ensure a long life than it is to buy "bargain" items that you save "just in case" or that wear out or don't quite suit your purpose.
Okay, I'll get down from my soapbox. Your decluttering is still amazing.
It does feel good to clean out, doesn't it? I'm going to attack the junk drawer/basket tomorrow.
Thanks for the blog award. I'm going to get to it today I hope!
To clarify, I don't purchase any of these gently used items I accumulate. I am forever being given things from family and friends as they go out and buy newer models, etc. They know my frugal nature, and so think of me.
I totally agree with your analysis though, about most folks spending. If you don't NEED it, it doesn't matter how good the sale...it is wasteful!
I loved this post. So satisfying!
But I had to laugh when I read that your crafting whims only last "a few years". My longest whim was sewing, and that lasted about a year. ;-)
"Elizabeth Brown" would be proud. It does feel so good to give things to people you know will truly benefit.
My suggestion is to start everyday with a bag and the goal of getting rid of ten unwanted, useless items. It is amazing the stuff that has no use. Ten won't seem like enough once you get started.
Wow that is amazing! We are moving in three months (give or take a few days) and I need to do the same! I don't like getting rid of books though so that will be a tough one - though one area we do need to go through is the kids toys. Way too much there.
It is a wonderful feeling to get rid of STUFF. We moved less than two years ago and got rid of lots of things. We have big open spaces in our house but I am determined to not fill it up. I have noticed I am starting to collect more fabric, but on the other hand Amelia is sewing a lot more, I just need to stay out of the yarn and fabric stores until I use everything up!! We may move again so I have been looking around to see what I can start getting rid of...
I have had not much time for nosing around in the blog world, nice to catch up.
I've been working on this, too. I must admit that I haven't been successful. I just have too much stuff. I wish you good luck and will be inspired by your success.
Craft supplies were one of my problems too - they pile up so fast!
We also seem to end up with lots of lumber in our garage, and no plans to use it. It's constantly falling down on my head when I try to get stuff out of the garage. :(
Good luck with your clean out!
I'm going through this as well, with a table set up for items to post on my local Freecycle lists (though unfortunately having to find a new spot because of the inter-semester break being done for a class held in my living room).
I wanted to comment on what one fellow commenter said about her kids having lots of stuff to pare down. My kids do too! However, I think it is important to set an example of doing the hard purging on your own possessions first, in order to prevent the kids from feeling like their own things are rather unfairly on the chopping block without their say-so.
The commenter in question mentioned books, which are my own bete noire as well, especially as a homeschooler with both high school still in front of me, and a toddler still waiting to go through everything the others have done already. Still, I found on review that there were plenty of books that I was willing to pass along, keeping only the cream of the crop in some categories (all those books that new homeschoolers acquire, pregnancy and childbirth, and other topics that I am past). There were also plenty of novels that I was not likely to read again, and if I do feel the urge, well, that's what my library is for :-)
I'm not perfect - there are still plenty of books that I really should get rid of, but can't bring myself to yet (like the collections from my favorite classes in college). But there's currently enough shelf space to keep them, so I'm not under too much pressure yet.
For my kids' playthings, we're in thought and discussion this week (my outlook calendar beeps up each morning to remind us to be thinking about it LOL) about how to approach the overflow. I suspect we'll settle on some combination of freecycling what we can agree upon (and there are a few things like that), with storage of things that it seems like they don't need, to be reviewed for freecycling in six months time.
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