Pitching anxiety
I am a collector. My parents are collectors. And we attach sentimental value to everything that touches our lives.
Proof of this hoarding habit became all too apparent when I decided to start cleaning out the attic.
I had major anxiety. Still do.
10 tall kitchen garbage bags worth of clothes are waiting in the garage to be donated to Joseph's Coat in St. Paul.
5 bags of garbage are piled in the garage to go out on Tuesday.
And I have been using a paper bag to keep my breathing steady.
Why so much anxiety?
I think part of it is that all those little mementos remind me of my life. They let me know that I have lived. That I have been places and done things. That other lives intersected with mine and we shared something together.
Some of the things that I found:
8 track tapes of the Flashdance soundtrack, Air Supply, Kenny Rogers, The Turtles.
A Rubik's cube with scenes from the movie ET
Empire Strikes Back trading cards
ET trading cards
A stuffed Gizmo
Peace Frogs t-shirts and bumper stickers
The napkin from Patrick's something or other in New Orleans
Subway token from my 1988 trip to New York for college
Bullet casing from when I learned to fire a rifle at the range
Richard Scary books I had when I was a little girl
A raggedy Anne doll that looked more Raggedy than Anne
My Brownie guidebook and badge book
The medals I earned from the Reading Olympics
My old wedding ring
A Chevron collectible car
Beanie Baby happy meal toys
Darth Vader case for Star Wars figures
Dagoba play set
A gun for one of the Star Wars figures.
An R2D2 and C3PO necklace
The sign for my high school locker that said "Tater Tot"
A Doll with a stuffed body and hard plastic head
The sweatshirt I colored on the drive from California to Michigan 1977 which lists each state we drove through and a pictorial representation of that state.
Keychains
My sticker collection
A unicorn pillow
The bandanna a roommate brought back from Japan Disney
The jade horse my dad got me when he was in Spain
The bells we put on our shoes to greet my dad at the airport
I didn't throw it all out. I couldn't. Ok, the 8-tracks went into the garbage. As did some of the above stuff.
I also collected a bunch of stuff to take up to the cabin. Kitchen things we can use up there.
Mugs, bowls, measuring cups, etc........
I don't need to have the stuff. I don't use so much of it. But I am not ready to part with it all either.
It is silly. They are just things.
Ultimately I know the only things in my life that really matter are my pets, my husband, and our health.
And I really could walk away from it all. But to make the permanent break when I don't have to I am just not read for.
One of these days it will happen. A little at a time. Maybe a year from now I'll do the same thing and chuck even more.
It really does feel good to get rid of things I will never use/wear/read.
Baby steps.....................
20 comments:
That's great. It is hard. I don't like clutter, but at the same time I don't like waste. So I teeter totter through the year, a month or two saving everything until it drives me nuts and I go through and pitch a bunch of old stuff.
Probably, the stuff I'd saved from the cycle before!
;-)
Every time I move I throw stuff out. So much of it is stuff I thought would have some kind of sentimental value to me, but actually doesn't.
What I tend to keep are things like the beer mat from a cool brewpub, or napkin like you did, or subway tokens and tickets. Or local independent (or underground) newspapers. Stuff like that seem to remind me so much more of places and people.
We move so often, and I always throw out a lot of stuff and always wish I had gotten rid of more when I'm unpacking. But it's not easy, and I have the clothes, cards, stuffed animals, bits of paper and out-of-focus photos to show for it.
Baby steps are the way to go!
no, not the Air Supply 8 track! not the unicorn pillow!!!!!!
I get it. It's tough. We move every few years and I have to go through stuff each time (both right before AND right after the move). I've thrown or given away a few things I regret, but mostly I am glad to be free of the things that tie me down. Making a scrapbook is always good, and those cards and photos and ticket stubs are all things that can fit into a scrapbook. But this is only worthwhile if you are going to look a the scrapbook on occasion!
In the meantime, I'm thinking my boys would be drooling over the Star Wars goodies. Have you considered e-Bay?
I'm always throwing things away... Sometimes I regret it later. I'm like the opposite of a pack rat. I'm always looking for a reason to unload. There's that part of me that still hopes (fantasizes, really) that Hoop and I can run off and travel one day, without stuff to find homes or storage for. That doesn't mean we don't currently have a lot of stuff though. Like I said, it's a fantasy. :)
Funny how a new year makes some of us want to clean and purge our spaces. Good for you for letting go. I feel the same way you do about things...they evoke memories that may otherwise be buried in the recesses of our minds. However, I learned the hard way that you can't hang on to everything. Case in point...my hubby has not yet seen a baby picture of me (we've been married 10 years).
Baby steps indeed! Perfect for making sure you really want to part with each item. :-)
Happy New Year!!
It is very hard to part with somethings. I have pared down so much, that the last things I have are the hardest to get rid of, yet, some of it makes no sense to hang onto. I have two boxes of LP's, in which there are also some old 78's from mom & dad! Baby steps indeed.
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Hopefully you feel better instead of worse in a few days after all the stuff is gone.
Usually I feel bad while I am pitching the stuff but after it is gone and removed the memory of it fades just as quickly.... And that helps...
:)
Hello and hope 2009 is treating you well... or at least better than it's treated your poor ol' Aunt Jackie lately. lol
Hope u r going well.
Work from home
Where are you? I miss you.
Just wondering about you, and like Tink, missing ya.
Ditto what Tink and Aunt Jackie said. Hope you didn't throw out your computer by mistake.
Ah another collector friend...Now I do not feel so bad....the other day I looked into our closet to change my winter clothes out and add my summer things, so I hoofed it downstairs to the 3 closets there and was in amazment at all the clothes I have in ALL 3 closets, I mean do I really need these things? I hardly ever wear any of it anymore, except an occasional holiday outfit, but what about all my clothes that do not fit anymore or are just of sentimental value...you have encouraged me to take some baby steps...and I am offing some to garage sale donations, Ebay, and the Amsvet that comes next week...what a great feeling...maybe someone else will get some fun times with these clothes now.. thanks for the eye opener....
Still missing ya
I have the same issue. I've got stuff I haven't cared enough to look at or use in years, but to throw it away? Never!
I wonder why that is. Can you fix me?
NEWTY!! Wherefore art thou?
Thinking of you today and missing you in the blogosphere...
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