I'm in a quandary. When I was younger ... say in my early 20's ... I hated "knick knacks." You know those things you have laying around the house? Snow globes from various vacations ... small figurines saying "I Love You THIS Much" ... anything like that was anathema to me.
But now I'm older and I've fallen into the trap. I guess there's no way to avoid it. People give you things and you want to keep them. So now my office is covered with figurines, candles, stuffed animals ... you name it.
The problem ... is that each one of these items means something to me. If it didn't, I could easily chuck it in the trash and not think twice. But how am I supposed to get rid of things that were given to me with so much thought and love behind them?
So my question is ... what do you do with things like this? How long do you keep them up? Is there a point where you say, "No more ... this stuff HAS to go!" And if so, what do you do with everything? I hate clutter ... and the clutter is starting to overwhelm me ...
To listen to me whine
About nothing and everything
All at once
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it
Green Day - Basket Case
You should try the book "Clutter's Last Stand." It may help guide you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion! Lincoln Library had three copies and all were available ... so I'll be picking one copy up on the way home tonight.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I've started ... I got a tub and put everything I considered "meaningful" in it ... and I've been trying to sort through the rest. I've done a pretty good job ... now I just need to get in my overheads and drawers and clean those areas out.
I put them into boxes, then leave the boxes at various parent's houses.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes you do. However, as you will someday learn, there came a point in my life where my parents said, "Um, know those boxes in the closet? Yeah, here they are ..." and so *eventually* it comes back to you. LOL :)
ReplyDeleteLOL What's funny is that last Monday, my mom's mom showed up at the bowling aley we were at with a box of stuff for my mom. Maybe by the time I start getting boxes back, I will have kids with their own houses I can store my stuff at.
ReplyDelete