I have had a few encounters lately with people lamenting the "disappearance" of childhood "treasures". Example 1: I was at an afternoon tea party with some young women one of which had a baby daughter. The subject got around to children's toys and one of the young women was somewhat befuddled as to what had happened to her childhood collection of Strawberry Shortcake toys. "I wonder what happened to them, I suppose my mother got rid of them, I really don't remember, I wish I still had them!". Example 2:Â On a separate occasion there was some mention of the that a relative in my family never … [Read more...]
Clutter from by gone days
How much space is taken up in your home with clutter from the person you once were. Do you still have... Sports equipment the will never be used again. Clothes that no longer fit. Musical instruments that you never really learned to play. College papers that are long out of date. Hobby supplies that you lost interest in some time ago. Music that you are embarrassed to say you once loved. Love letters from a faded romance. Books you read once and will never read again. Enough linen, crockery, cutlery etc to cater for your family of five when now it is just the two … [Read more...]
Regrets, traditions and reality.
I personally feel that anticipating regrets, especially attached to objects, is a waste of time. It's like clinging to old routines or traditions just because of their history, we put aside the fact that they are inconvenient or obsolete just because they are familiar. To give you an example of that ~ Lets talk about Christmas. My mother loves for all of her children to come home and be together at Christmas and is disappointed nearly every year by the fact that this rarely happens. Two of us live no less than 900km away, one of which due to spouse's work commitments only gets four weeks … [Read more...]
Disassociation Part 5 ~ Sentimental Clutter
Sentimental clutter, the final post in the Disassociation Series. Last but not least that is, because this one can be the most insidious of all of the categories of clutter. It sneaks up on you and binds itself to you like a barnacle to a rock. It can be a beautiful thing and a ball and chain all at the same time. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that all sentimental items are clutter. I own sentimental items that I have no intentions of ever parting with and I don't consider them clutter. I have also decluttered many items that had sentimental value that I wasn't compelled to keep once … [Read more...]
Disassociation Part 4 ~ Security Clutter
You are probably wondering how does security fit into the clutter equation, and of course I am going to give you my answer to that. Sometimes we keep our clutter because we want to be secure in the fact that it will be there just in case we do need it one day. We may think we will need it to remind us of loved ones or good times and don't want those memories to slip through our grasp. We may think we need it because it may actually come in useful one day. And in extreme case we may think we need it to stave off some impending disaster that might befall us. Either way we keep things for the … [Read more...]
Disassociation Part 3 ~ Aspirational clutter
In the spirit of optimism I was anticipating a jump in Australian readers today due to my live-to-air radio gig on Nightlife with Tony Delroy on ABC radio last night. If that is the case I would like to extend a hearty... ...to those new readers and I hope you will find my blog informative, helpful, friendly and at times maybe even a little entertaining. Aspirational clutter is any items that you aspire to using one day but one day never seems to come or items you used to use and "intend" to use again, but that never seems to happen. This could include... Craft/hobby supplies that you … [Read more...]
Simple Saturday ~ The new playstation decluttering game
Take one smug looking son and put him in front of a playstation.... ...hold up each item for his judgement while he plays EA Skate 3. Grab his other box while he is keen to cooperate and follow the same procedure as you did with the first...(Lets face it he really didn't have to make much effort with the first one.) The second box Divide all the items into KEEP... ...DONATE... Twelve months ago there was no way my son was going to part with these items, what a difference a year makes. And it was his idea to go through the items in the first place. What a lucky mum I am to … [Read more...]
What Really Matters in your Life
Often someone else will turn on the television while I am in the room but I am not really watching it. It is however hard to ignore news broadcasts about all the natural disasters that keep happening this year. The latest disaster in Japan is horrifying to behold and conjures up a lot of feelings and deep thought. I don't know about you but my first reaction was 'Oh my god, all those people dead, injured and missing!' Watching the tsunami destroy everything in its path, lives, buildings, cars, ships... The sadness and misery felt by those left behind trying to come to terms with the loss … [Read more...]
Defining Sentimental Clutter
Taking into consideration the theme of yesterday's mini missions I thought that I would write a post today about defining sentimental clutter. One would be forgiven for thinking that if the item has sentimental value then it isn't clutter and on the face of it I would agree. When I refer to sentimental clutter though I am really talking about items with a personal history element to them that we keep even though we don't like them enough to use them or even go out of our way to look at them. In some cases we may have lost all interest in these items some time ago but keep them because we feel … [Read more...]
Mini Mission Monday – Keepsake items
Hi folks, this week's mini missions are going to center around keepsake items. You might be surprised at how many places in your home these little blighters are hiding. You may also be surprised to realize how many you keep just for the sake of it but don't really care that much about. So, we are going to do a bit of a "don't care enough to keep you" keepsake round-up. When contemplating each item, your first thoughts may go to the occasion/person/place that they remind you of and get you all sentimental. Don't stop at your first thought! Take five deep breaths and channel your rational side … [Read more...]