Lightening the Load

Today is beautiful. All of my kids are outside playing with the neighbor kids, and the frogs they captured. I'm sitting here watching the sunlight pour in my windows and thinking. Thinking about when we moved into this adorable, tiny place. I guess calling it tiny is actually kind of ridiculous. It's over 2,000 square feet but coming from 4,000 makes this feel tiny to me. It's all about perspective.
I told you the story of my starting the process of selling everything. Each thing that walked out my front door in someone else's arms made me do a little happy dance (except the piano). "More room in the new house!" we would say. I kept going and kept going. "Oh I don't really need this cute little table." or "I sure don't want to clutter up my new walls with all of these pictures."
So I kept selling. I made enough money to replace my old couch and chairs and paint the new house. I'm not used to buying things new but I really wanted a "never sat on" couch. Jonny was so impressed with me that we didn't have to budget any money for the move. I funded everything with all of my sales. I was SO proud!

Then we started moving everything in. I kept my favorite things downstairs but sent everything else up to the room over the garage. I could hear myself telling all the helpers "Upstairs with that. Upstairs with that. Upstairs with that." over and over again. I started wondering if it would all fit. I found myself scared to death to go and look. So I waited until the next day. It was a disaster!! How on earth could I still have so much stuff after I had made hundreds of dollars selling so much?
Where had it all been hiding and why was it still here for Pete's sakes?!
It got to where Meg's friends were scared to come over because I would call everyone who was at my house to the attic and we would organize. Days of trying to make it all fit. Pulling it all out and putting it all back in. Sorting and reorganizing trying to figure out how to keep it all. Pitiful isn't it??

So I started selling again. Selling more furniture. Selling more decor. Selling more dishes. I decided that no one needs twenty Rubbermaids of Christmas decor so I sold about three-fourths of that. People would come to buy their items and ask if I had more. I would start to tell them no and then change my mind and let them rummage through my attic. Most of the time I could be talked into selling just about anything unless it was from one of my grandmothers.

I still have too much stuff. I still have things that I don't really need but fear that I might one day want. But I'm better. Much, much better. Here is the thing, start looking at your stuff for what it is. You think to yourself "I might one day want that." but yet it's been sitting unused for the past year or more. You say "My kids are getting older and they might want some of this stuff." Here is a voice of experience in that field. My girls spent all of their early years begging for me to keep my stuff for them. They loved the way I decorated and they fussed about everything that was sold. They were sure they would want it one day to decorate their own home. Then they got older. Ally bought her own house and I sent her a ton of pictures asking what all she wanted. She asked for approximately three things. She has her own taste now and it is not the same as mine.
Meg is a minimalist. She doesn't want anything in her room that she didn't paint or doesn't grow. She doesn't care one fig for any of my stuff.

 My advice is pass it on. Sell it or give it to someone who would love it now. Not in five or ten years. If it is too hard for you then give yourself this challenge. Sell five things and use the money to buy one thing you've really wanted. Even if it's just a manicure which really is better because that doesn't make clutter! Then tomorrow sell five more things and take your kids to lunch. Start looking at every single item you own and asking yourself "Do I need this in my life to make me happy?" or "Is there a very important reason that I'm holding onto this besides sentiment?"
If the answer is no then Pass It On! If you need some help in this area then call me because I've always said that when I grow up I'm going to be a home organizer. I love helping people walk through this process. I know from experience how freeing it is. Lighten your load! You will love your new skinny house!