Mary Ann really pegged it when she coined the term “I can’t get rid of that syndrome.” It’s something I think everyone can relate to at some point in time. There are just things in our lives that we hold onto for one reason or another. However, I’ve learned a few things about such items that I’d like to share.
Now, Mary Ann has some great advice on how to treat special items, such as ways to preserve parts of them to keep the memory, or donating them to help someone else. She’ll have even more helpful hints soon.
I’m going to offer a different perspective. There are some pieces of our past that some of us simply cannot bear to part with and that’s okay too. We just have to take a hard look at things and decide which ones really are important, because we just can’t keep everything.
Unfortunately, we may feel attached to too many items (or think we do). Then, it’s time to do some re-evaluating. Watching shows like Mission Organization and Clean Sweep, has taught me a thing or two… If you have an inherited item, photo, or other special something, you must first look at how you’re treating that item.
Your lips might be saying, “I can’t get rid of that,” but the treatment of that item says something different. Actions speak louder than words. If the item is in a corner covered with other clutter or collecting dust, such condition does not say “this item is special.”
Here are three options:
- Leave it there taking up space and collecting dust
- Realize that it’s actually okay to part with it and do so
- Clean it up and display it in a way that is proportionate to its sentimental value
Dust off that photo of your great grandmother and hang it on the wall or remove the frame and place it in a photo album, for example.
Those trophies and memorabilia from your younger years? Well, the pros will tell you to move them out and move on. You may decide to do just that.
However, while many of the tips are great, this is one area in which I have to disagree. In fact, after watching one show where a man nearly cried after giving up his trophies, I did some re-evaluating as mentioned above. Then, I picked the third option.
I brought my husband’s trophies out of the box in the closet and displayed them on a shelf in our living room. They aren’t exactly designer approved, but quite frankly, I don’t care. I’ll just have to get rid of something else.
The trophies make my husband happy and it is his home too. Now, our children add their trophies and ribbons alongside his. Soon, it won’t be just one shelf, we’ll probably have to turn the whole bookshelf into a trophy case. And, you know what? I love it.
While you will find a great variety of insight and advice from home shows, blogs, and other sources, it’s like anything else… one size does not fit all. So, go ahead and watch the shows, read the blogs (especially ours, lol), and then do what feels right for you.
*Don’t miss the rest of Mary Ann’s “De-Cluttering Boot Camp” series and be sure to check out other articles in Organization and Storage Solutions.