Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

Last weeks post ~ Memories are no stuff ~ deserves a little more attention than just one post. So this week I will dedicate the mini mission and another post to the subject. I feel this is important because this kind of clutter is often the sort that most people have trouble detaching themselves from. The power of suggestion is, as the phrase suggests, a powerful thing. One can change their belief system when exposed enough to an opposing logical suggestion. So let me just repeat again that we don’t need stuff to remind us of those we love, what we have achieved or the good times we’ve had. Without further adieu here are some suggestions for things you might find you can happily live without.

Monday – Old birthday cards

Tuesday – A family heirloom you possibly never really liked. Give it to another member of the family.

Wednesday – A souvenir.

Thursday – A childhood or baby item of you or your children.

Friday – A diary or journal.

Saturday – Any memento that is boxed away somewhere where you rarely see it.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Eco Tip for the Day

Using reusable items rather than throw away is not only good for the environment but can save you money.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

In honor of my cousin Jenny’s wedding last Friday evening, I have pulled a post from the archives. I wrote this post after polling my friends about what they had done with their dresses.

What did you do with your dress? The unanimous answer – I still have it or once, my parent has it.

I have mine, which I still think is beautiful 15 years later. It’s hermetically sealed in a gigantic box and is in the top of one of the closets. This particular shelf is rather hard to reach, so the only things that would ever be placed on it are long-term storage items. I have enough storage room in the house, so it stays. Ironically, I do not enjoy looking at it. There is a big oval on the top of the box, and the dress is laid out beautifully, but something about it reminds me of looking into a coffin, so it kind of creeps me out. Weird, I know. However, since I told my daughters I was going to write this post, they’ve been clamoring to see my dress, so I am vowing here, before all of you, that I will pull it out and actually look at it soon.

While we like to think that our dress will be worn by a relative, most likely only a piece of it, such as the veil will make a second trip down the aisle. Accepting this notion, some women have cut up their dresses and given them new life as christening gowns or flower girl dresses. One woman I found on the Internet lets her children play dress up with it. I wouldn’t even let my children play dress up with the cocktail dress that I wore to my first wedding, so I know there’s no chance of them prancing around in the traditional gown I wore when I married their father.

In addition to keeping the dress, there are a couple of other possibilities for it. The first, of course, is to sell it. However, this needs to be done in the first couple of years, because no matter how classic we believe our dress is, styles change, and it likely won’t be sellable after 4 or 5 years.

The other option is to donate it. That I was able to discover, there is only one nation-wide charity in the U.S. that takes wedding dresses,  Brides Against Breast Cancer (www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org), but even they won’t take gowns older than 2009.

But back to keeping the dress. I thought my girlfriends had interesting things to say about their gowns and their choices:

One of my friends despises her dress, but she still won’t part with it. Here’s what she wrote: Anyway, I have dragged the dress across the country four times. But I never throw it out because it’s a piece of history, if you will: a tangible remnant of my past that the kids can explore or chuck. So far my daughter agrees with me that the dress is pretty putrid. But she always says that she’d like to use parts of it for her gown. So who knows? Maybe butt bows will come back in style — and if they do, I’m ready!

Initially, this friend’s dress was saved by her mother, who later mailed it to her. I think it speaks to the feeling of intrinsic importance that we place on our gowns: By “mailed” I’m being literal: She just slapped some stamps on the hermetically sealed boxes –no wrapping, no insurance, no anything!– and sent ‘em US Mail. When they arrived, our mail carrier –who was a woman– knocked on our door and proceeded to berate me for 15-minutes about the “irresponsibility of sending something as precious as a wedding gown” in such a manner.

Another friend said: My husband wanted to know why I was keeping it recently and I didn’t have a very good answer. It seemed like bad luck to get rid of it or something.

This friend’s husband is with the U.S. State Department, and they move around the world every two years. While she did not keep her dress, her father cannot part with it, and it lives at his house. (And, as you will read, she’s a natural declutterer): So interesting that everyone who answered has kept their wedding dresses! I’m surprised. Maybe because I move so often, I just can’t keep stuff. I cried the day we had to sell my grand piano, and I think that was the day I learned not to develop an emotional connection to “things.” I haven’t looked back since, and now I am queen of “get rid of.” The only things I would hate to lose are my scrapbooks. In contrast, everything my parents purchased was to last a lifetime (actually several generations’ lifetimes). I think it may be something about that  generation, or perhaps growing up in the Depression. I now can’t imagine living that way, with all that stuff piling up!

In the end, though, I think this friend said it best: Every so often I think I should sell it just to make space but you know, I’ve got SO MANY worthless things that could be gotten rid of, I am keeping the dress.

Well said! – Declutter what is not precious, so you have room to save what is.

Today’s Mini Mission

Refurbish something. Maybe something has become clutter because it needs a lick of paint to bring it back to life.  Even if you end up not using it after all at least if it will now be in better condition for whoever finds it at the thrift store or if you decide to sell it.

Today’s Declutter Item

While taking yet another sweep through his keepsake box my husband found yet more foreign coins that we have no use for or sentimental attachment to. I took them to the bank where they are donated to Unicef.

Foreign Coins

Eco Tip For The Day

Where possible replace disposable items with reusable one ~ coffee cups, batteries, food storage, coffee filters…

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

The girls and I are still on vacation, having traveled 1500 miles (2414 kilometers) thus far from Austin, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and then to St. Louis, Missouri, by way of Memphis, Tennessee.  (Thank you Mom, for lending us your Prius.) Until today, besides postcards, which we purchased but also mailed, we had spent less than $10 on souvenirs. I bought a box of beignet mix at Cafe du Monde, and Clara purchased a pair of earrings, which she’s already worn several times. Today we went to one of our favorite places in the world, City Museum in St. Louis (boring name for an exciting place), and virtually broke the bank on souvenirs, spending almost $70. The only thing I can say in my defense is that every souvenir has a specific and well-thought-out purpose. Two pairs of earrings, made from recycled tin, will be under the Christmas tree for the girls. The post cards are for the scrapbook I will make when I get home. (I feel confident that I will make a book, because I have taken so few photos, and have culled while standing in  lines, that I feel confident that I won’t be overwhelmed with choices.) Last, I purchased a book of elaborate snow flake patterns. I know that sounds like the one that might sit fallow in the drawer, but Clara really likes that kind of precise work, so I think we will enjoy them over the winter holiday.

While I am not at all displeased with my purchases, I must point out that $70 would also buy admission for the three of us to nearly any museum or attraction we wanted to go to and would buy another two or even three meals on the road. In other words, souvenirs can also easily increase the cost of travels.

What didn’t I buy? Shot glasses with a local attraction on them. Beverages in big “souvenir” cups. Art that you purchase on impulse when you’re somewhere and then don’t know what to do with it when you get home. T-shirts (nice or junky) for myself or anyone else. Expensive “opportunity” photos that the folks at the St. Louis Arch or the ladies who work at the Aquarium are happy to take for you. Lastly, I didn’t buy a gift for anyone who is not on this trip with me.

I’ve never been a huge souvenir buyer, and neither are my parents, but I have been on the receiving end of a number of souvenirs, both junky and costly. What I’ve decided from that experience is that even if the item is nice, it immediately holds a lot less value to the recipient because he/she was not there to see 1) the cute little shop where it was sold, 2) the quaint village where this is the traditional handicraft, 3) the wonderful factory where the item was made, or 4) the whole darn country where the item came from.

So onward with our trip and may the souvenir “gimmes” stay away.

Like Colleen, I have little Internet access and will not be responding to comments. I hope everyone is having a great two weeks while I am away.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something from the bookcase again ~ I don’t just keep books in my bookcase so I have several item choices in this area. If that isn’t the case for you I am sure there is one of two books that could be culled.

Today’s Declutter Item

I haven’t used this item in years but I was still reluctant to declutter it. Why you may ask. Because I was afraid that if I did decide to try my hand at making rugs again I wouldn’t be able to buy such a gadget any more. I decided in the end I would take my chances because the item is for sure taking up space but the surety of it being used is next to nil.

Yarn Cutter for Latch Rugs

Eco Tip For The Day

If you can’t live without heating try turning down the thermostat a couple of degrees and put on warmer clothes. You would be surprised at how much better this is for the environment and on your energy bills.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

I received the following email from Jeff a week or so ago which is really what inspired me to focus on obligation clutter again this week. It is amazing the desperation we sometimes feel when faced with the dilemma of “I don’t want this thing but it’s family history so I really can’t declutter it. What am I to do?” Anyway read Jeff’s comment, where you will hear that desperation, and we will go from there.

I really appreciate your wonderful posts. They, as well as other sites and books, have spurred me on to GET RID OF STUFF! I (we) have been successful in a lot of areas, but the one that gives me the most problems is inherited stuff. I’m an only child, and both my parents are gone now. I have in my garage a trunkful (and other containers) of sentimental and historical stuff that I seem paralyzed to dispose of. Diaries, WWI, WWII memorabilia*, PICTURES!!!! (even one of Lindbergh standing on the wing of his plane), and family stuff for over one hundred years. Nobody in my family ever threw anything away! I have no other extended family remotely interested in the items, and my own children are thoroughly modern and don’t care (yet.) I find myself almost wishing for a tornado (I’m in Oklahoma) to come and take away the stuff so I don’t have to worry about it anymore! To top it off, my wife will have the same situation when her parents pass on.
Jeff

Being an only child makes this situation both easier and more difficult for Jeff at the same time. At least he knows the items are his alone and it is his decision as to what to do with them. But if he had a sibling who cared to have the items it would be so much easier to pass them on. Then there is the complication of whether Jeff’s children will change their minds in the future and want the stuff themselves. As I see it there are many things Jeff should consider…

1. If his children are old enough to make rational decisions about the items ~ that is not to young to realise the significance of what they are being offered ~ then he is free to let them go. I would suggest that anyone over the age of 25 has enough of their own individual personality to make this decision. It doesn’t guarantee that they still won’t change their mind but they will however be old enough to remember they were given the choice.
2. If the items are from beyond Jeffs parents generation ~ that is his grandparnents, great grandparents… ~ then it is fair, and maybe even a legal requirement, to offer them to any existing family members ~ uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews… ~ before making the decision to hand them on any other way. If someone else in the family wants to carry on the tradition of handing these items down then that is a good thing. Should Jeff choose this option perhaps he could give them with the proviso that they come back to his children should they wish it in the future.
3. Should there be no other family members to take the items then another method of keeping possession of them while having them enjoyed by others is to loan them to a local preservation society or museum. By loaning items they remain your property to be retrieved when desired. In Jeffs case military museums would be a good choice to loan his WW1 and WW2 items to.
4. If Jeff is happy to hand them on permanently he could outright donate them to the local preservation society or museum of his choice.
5. Should all these other options be exhausted then Jeff might just choose to sell the items.

*I will say that I personally think that military medals  should remain within the family if possible. For personal reasons I do have a rather bias opinion on this though.

Multi generational family heirlooms deserve special consideration when decluttering. I am not talking about a few fancy tea cups your mother once owned that have no real story attached except that they are pretty, made by Royal Dalton and might be worth a few bucks but real family history~ items of great personal value and possible even great monetary value. While thinking about this post I began doing a little research and found a web post that I though covered the subject of handing on heirlooms quite well and I implore you to read if as just a start to researching this subject. Here is the link

TLC .howstuffworks.com ~ 5 Things to do before passing down heirlooms 

From a financial point of view I would always investigate the monetary value of any heirloom item before making the decision to sell or donate. The more information you are armed with the better decision you stand to make. How many stories have your heard where someone has picked up a half million dollar item for $50 at a garage sales. I know I have.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter some grown children clutter ~ This is something long ago left behind by your grown child.  Your home is not a storage unit, ask them to collect it and let them know you are going to get rid of it otherwise. With a little diplomacy this is possible without alienating them.

Today’s Declutter Item

It would be a lie to say I have no grown children clutter to get rid of because I have three boxes of it in the garage and that is only the start. One of the children is still at home while the other isn’t settled enough to expect her to collect her stuff yet. So I have no examples to declutter today but I do however have these two little bits to clutter from my own teen years. One is an elastic ankle support from my days of several sprains playing softball while the other is a leather bat grip. I am at a loss to explain how these things have stayed in my possession for so long especially since they were in our first aid kit that has been decluttered several times already. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Sport Clutter

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Aborting my continually interrupted attempts to get the house work done and going instead to a friends place for coffee and cake. Gotta love resorting to plan B.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

A guest post by Julia St. Charles

My mother’s home is full of “too good to use” items and random objects from babyhood and toddlerhood.

I’d love to write an open letter to young parents along the lines of:

Dear Young Parents:

If you are going to save mementos from your children’s early years, please do not save everything.  Except for handmade or heirloom items, like the baby quilt Grandma made, or the hand-knit layette from Aunt Barbara, give outgrown clothing to Goodwill — ordinary clothing will be both too physically aged and too far out of style for your imagined future grandchildren to use.  When you do pack away the hand-knit layette and handmade quilt, get storage advice from a professional so they are not opened 25 years later for the first grandchild, only to find they have been destroyed by moths.

Your children will let you know which favorite items they want to hang onto: that special Dr. Seuss book, that favorite Teddy bear.  You won’t have to ask. Please do not save each and every toy, birthday gift or other belonging “in case they want to take a walk down memory lane one day.”  Forty years from now your daughter will not want that card from her third birthday, whether the giver can be identified or not.  Keep only a few “milestone” birthday and Christmas cards if you wish, and try to limit those to people who are deceased, as that may be all you have left from them.

Another thing your child will not want is old schoolwork assignments.  Really, they won’t want those fifth grade math tests and report cards, no mater how many A’s they got.

Keep photos and very few “things.”  99% photos.  Your middle aged daughter will not want to inherit an attic jam packed with broken Barbies, musty toddler clothes and tattered holiday cards “for a special three-year-old!”   Think ahead: “will I be leaving an inheritance or a burden?”

Love,

Anykid

Today’s Mini Mission

Take a quick look in the bathroom and find something to declutter. It’s that simple. Don’t fuss don’t hesitate just find that one thing and get it our of there.

Today’s Declutter Item

Talking of children’s keepsakes… this is the last of my son’s Snoopy Collection. I gave it to a friend some time ago but misplaced the photo. So this will absolutely be the last photo of Snoopy stuff. Liam I am glad to say is very good at letting go of stuff.

The absolute last of my son's Snoopy Collection

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

Are you hanging on to old boyfriend /old  girlfriend / ex-wife / ex-husband clutter? Breakin’ up is hard to do, and breaking’ up with the ex’s stuff can be even harder.

Some of the things you may have that remind you of him or her:

• fancy underclothes
• photos
• greeting cards and letters
• jewelry
• vacation souvenirs
• music (what do they call mix-tapes in the days of CDs and iTunes?)
• toiletries
• food that he/she preferred
• debt from outings or vacation that you took together or from his/her bad spending habits.
• a phone or texting bill that went way over your minutes
• a hobby you no longer enjoy

I once bought a card that said, “Your ex is like Thanksgiving leftovers. You’re better off when the turkey’s gone.” The same with the stuff that is physically or emotionally burdening you. When you encounter one of these emotional triggers, it may cause feelings of embarrassment, shame, longing or regret. Those are all emotions you don’t need in your life. As hard as it is, you need to tackle those things scattered throughout your home that cause disturbing feelings and firmly invite them to live somewhere else. If you have a whole box of items – or more than one box – that causes you to swerve away from it like a bag full of stink every time you get near, then throw the whole thing away without opening it, or get a friend to help you make your way through*. Negative emotional baggage is clutter that none of us need, and if it’s physically in your home as a reminder of true love gone wrong, it needs to go. The sooner, the better.

* “A bag full of stink” was my husband’s contribution to this post. I thought it exactly captured what I meant to say. Thanks Hon.

Today’s Declutter Item

I am finally getting to the bottom of the Snoopy clutter. I figured these are never going to sell on ebay and sent them packing to the thrift store. Goodbye McDonald’s toy clutter.

Snoopy Snoopy and more Snoopy

Something I Am Grateful For Today

This message that my daughter posted on facebook on the weekend. She is extremely gifted in writing lovely heartfelt messages. All true of course. 😉

Not a single woman in the world could ever hope to be as incredible as my beautiful mum! I could only hope to be half the woman she is. I love you mum! Happy birthday!!!

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Recently my in-laws were in town. They went to their storage unit and returned to my house with a glass pitcher that they thought we might like ~ it had belonged to my mother-in-law’s great grandmother. My husband seemed eager (or at least politely accepting), and I had broken one of our two glass pitchers a while back, so I wasn’t opposed to having it. It was not fancy or heirloom quality, just a pressed glass pitcher with a duck scene molded onto it, something that would be the equivalent of a Wal-Mart purchase today.

I used it a few days later and proudly showed my husband when he got home from work. I thought he’d be pleased that I had readily accepted this new item into my kitchenware. Instead, he barely recognized it, said he didn’t know which grandmother it was from, and said, “Who knows? She may have been ready to throw it out when she died.”

Interesting.

Interesting because while his mother had ascribed sentimental weight to its existence, Dan couldn’t have cared less. I might have cherished that pitcher as a relic from his great-grandmother for all of his life and passed it down to our children as a treasured heirloom. But he didn’t even care!

In my life, I have an old cook book that belonged to my Grandmother. She was a great cook. It is so stuffed full of recipe clippings that the spine is broken, and when she died, it was thought that I should have it because I’m a good cook too. It’s been more than nine years since she passed, and I have barely given it a look. I don’t ever remember Grandma using it. She used a couple of her cookbooks but mostly used a spiral notebook full of hand written recipes frequently. But this book? It seems to have been a storage unit for Recipes Not Made. While it is supposed to be sentimental to me and to the relatives who decided that I should have it, there’s really no evidence that it was sentimental to my Grandmother. After all, as far as any of us can remember, she never even used it. Sure, she kept it, but my Grandmother was a depression-era housewife: she kept everything. That doesn’t mean that it was near and dear to her.

As you’re decluttering, you will inevitably find something where you will think, “Oh, but Aunt Regenia was so fond of this.” Was she? To whom is this item sentimental and is it sentimental to you?

Today’s Declutter Item

These are another example of aspiration clutter that I was planning on doing something with one day. They was actually given to me by someone who didn’t want them. She knew I made jewellery and though I might be able to use them. I graciously accepted. They were one of those “sentimental to someone else” pieces that Cindy spoke of above. They belonged to my friends mother-in-law who she didn’t like. So I figured I was doing her a favour by accepting them so she didn’t feel obliged to keep them. I attempted to sell them on ebay recently without success so now they are off to the thrift store.

Another Vintage Necklace

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I am grateful that they are understanding and trusting at the dentist surgery because I realised at the last minute that I had forgotten my purse. I am also grateful that the reason my friend cancelled our pm coffee together wasn’t because of bad news at her daughters doctors appointment. And I will be grateful if the last thing I had planned today actually works out right. Crazy day! But I am grateful for my patience and sense of humour. Oh and I didn’t need any follow up dental treatment. That is at least fours years in a row now. Woo hoo, gotta luv that!

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Today’s Declutter Item

Plastic Tray

Something I Am Grateful For Today

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

A guest post by My Darling Husband, you can read more of his travel tales on his blog.

After a month of souvenir assaults in Italy, Colleen and I managed to return home with just four new items; a t-shirt for Liam, glass bead earrings for Colleen, a book of our Venice tour (included in the tour cost) and a wonderful etching of Florence purchased from a local artisan. They all have special memories attached to them.

Colleen’s earrings match the necklace she bought in Venice during our first visit there in 2005, the etching evokes the splendour of Florence and the book helps us relive our Venetian tour experience. While the t-shirt will always remind Colleen of my beautiful use of the Italian language until I ran out of vocabulary before finishing the transaction.

But we have many more memories from our romantic month immersed in Italian culture and history, and no tolerance left for knick knacks to remind us. So we use the two most valuable tools available to capture our memories; a camera and a pen.

Gelato in Florence

Travel Photography

We took close to a thousand photographs in Italy, and as I sort through them they remind me of great meals, local customs and the small differences that made Italy memorable. The key is to not only photograph the famous sights but to capture the seemingly mundane, your meals, the local shop displays or anything that stirs your interest or imagination. Try to tell a story with your photo, the locals flocked to one gelateria every afternoon and I tried to capture the atmosphere with this photo on the right.

Your best images can be shared online at social media websites like Flickr and Facebook or create a book using a print on demand service, like Blurb.

Keep a Journal

As you travel, record your thoughts and observations in a journal each day. Keep a small notebook and pen in your day bag or pocket to jot down notes then each evening transcribe and expand the detail in your main journal. There is no more powerful tool to remember your vacation, and by combining your words and images you will create a permanent record of your adventure. Then print it in a book like this one I made with Blurb:

European Vacation by Steve Madsen | Make Your Own Book

Find Experiences not Shopping

Many travellers are shuffled from shopping experience to shopping experience by their tour guides or the local tourist industry, and many of their purchases never see the light of day after the trip. Use your hard earned vacation money to have memorable experiences, hire a personal guide, attend a local concert or sporting event and get to know some of the local people. I vividly remember an hour spent mingling with locals on their piazza, and you will find your best vacation memories in similar places and eliminate your souvenir clutter as well.

Item 329 of 365 less things

One of the many souvenirs from our days living in Seattle. Proof that freebies are hard to resist and and soon become sentimental clutter.

5 Things I am grateful for today

1. Getting the cleaning out of the way quickly – Today was cleaning day and I had it all taken care of in less than three hours.
2. My hubby writing today’s post – It was 8:30pm and I couldn’t come up with anything to write about and he stepped in and saved the day.
3. Movies – We went to see the new Harry Potter movie today.
4. Freedom – Not all people throughout the world live with this luxury and the rest of us often take it for granted. Thank you to those who have lost their lives or have served time fighting to ensure that freedom for us.
5. Fun Memories – That T-shirt buying incident in Italy was hilarious. I nearly wet myself I laughed so much. It makes me chuckle now just thinking about it.
   

Scrapbooking is a wonderful pastime, and I enjoyed it for many years. The problem is that by its very nature it causes an enormous amount of clutter. Supply clutter, tool clutter, souvenir clutter, photo clutter not to mention time clutter. I have rarely met a scrapbooker who can keep up to date with all the happenings in life that they wish to record thereby causing a backlog of all of the above mentioned items.

Remember earlier this week, on day 272, I decluttered an old Rick Steves’ travel guide that had been languishing in my bedside cupboard for three years. Close by that guide was also a zip lock baggy full of all the maps, tickets and brochures from that same trip. These items are the subject of today’s post.

As I said I used to be a scrapbooker. Along with the supplies, that I now don’t use regularly, which hold their own element of spending guilt, are the souvenirs that were so lovingly collected and hold far more sentimental attachment than the supplies. Even though I am fairly sure I am never going to return to the hobby, I clung on to these items for years, “just in case”. Well, now is the time to be realistic. I am at a very different stage in my life now and even though it is nice to look back on the scrapbooks I did make I am never going to get around to making any more. Even if I do there will be plenty of new memories that I will be able to document and it would be a mammoth task trying to catch up on the past.

This souvenir collecting has not only cluttered up my home for years, it also cluttered up my suitcase during the collecting in the first place. It was so nice on my recent vacation not to be weighed down with this kind of clutter. Therefore I am ready to part with the items in this zip lock bag and then next week I will start on the storage bin that holds items from other vacations, events and occasions that have likely been lingering even longer than these.

ITEM 275 OF 365 LESS THINGS

The items from the zip lock bag

5 things I am grateful for today

1. The off switch on the television – it is very had to concentrate on writing my blog with that thing blaring.
2. Not having to go out today – sometimes it is nice to stay in and veg out.
3. My husband is home again.
4. That freeing feeling – of purging clutter and the heavy ties it has on your soil.
5. A cozy knee rug on a cool day – spring isn’t sprung altogether.