Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Moving out of yellow house: a pack-rat's lament
Why is it so hard to throw things away? The physical action isn't difficult--just aim and toss. As I was packing up all my stuff to move out of the Yellow House over these past couple weeks, waves of sentimentality seemed to break upon me. The logical, rational part of my brain turned off, leading me to more and more feeling-based decisions. I had a D.I. pile that I kept pulling things back out of. A trash pile that at first was substantial, until some memory attached to a certain scrap of paper came back to me and I placed it instead into the "for scrapbooking later" pile. Right . . . I don't even scrapbook.
I now have a room at my parents' house filled with newly-transferred junk. And soon the process will begin all over again. Why does this happen? And, how does someone like me get over it? Any helps for making my next packing go-around more successful than this last one?
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5 comments:
Have you used or looked at the item in the last 2 years?
Did you remember that you had it?
Those are good guidelines.
Oh, and tough love, too.
Next time, just imagine that you are moving overseas, and can only check two suitcases that are 50 lbs each. Besides that, you have one carry on (which is usually full of really heavy items, because they don't check the weight on carry ons) and one personal item. Anything extra will cost you a hundred bucks. It always works for me.
seriously, seriously, SERIOUSLY, i can't say enough about the book "It's All Too Much".. by the guy who goes into people's houses and helps them sort through their accumulated junk. I am not even exaggerating when i say that this was the most influential, life changing book (besides the scriptures, of course) that i read in all of 2008! you will NOT regret reading it!
moving does help us analyze where we're at with our stuff.
Ha ha ha. I am still laughing about that video!
I just gave all my stuff to you. That's why you have so much useless things like bags of coins and pashminas and antique ipods.
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