This past week my husband and I had off from work. Our goal was to clean out our garage.
What we thought would take a few days ended up taking much longer.
We had the same goal, but our process of getting there was much different.
My husband went right to work purging what we no longer needed and making a pile of trash. On the other hand, I took my time looking at every item, asking myself, “does it bring me joy.”
It was apparent getting rid of things was not easy for me.
It had been years since we had opened many of the boxes we were going through. I found myself being taken back in time to places that were faint memories.
I did not want to rush.
Why did I keep the things that were in these boxes?
I find pennies in envelopes and seashells wrapped up. Where did I see them, or were they a gift?
Collections and collections.
Keeping these “things” does not add to my life, so why is it hard to give them away?
In one box, I find the ceramics my son used to make. There is one piece that is a tiny fruit bowl. When I pick it up, I can remember the exact moment he made it. He rolled each piece of fruit and painted each one.
Does the piece bring me joy? Or does the moment? When I let go of the fruit bowl that has sparked this memory by touching my hand, will that moment go away?
We continue to clean out our garage. The time has come to lock the memories in my heart and not in boxes. To live in the present moment where I will spark new moments.
But don’t worry, I did keep my little fruit bowl.
Happy New Year!
24 Responses
Wow nice. It reminded me how I am storing each and every work done my little kids. I m not sure what am I going to do with those memories 5 yrs later.
I always think that when the time comes we just know what to do. Enjoy the artwork those little hands created you have time to figure it out 🙂
What a thoughtful post. I used to keep everything, but now I don’t have a hard time giving things away. I know what brings me joy and can separate that from material objects.
Thank you for your post. It is a process, but the cleanse feels good/ I keep telling myself “Life is about people, not things” 🙂
It is difficult to get rid of certain items that bring back treasured moments. My husband is the same though, if we haven’t used it in a year throw it away!
Smart man. Your husband and my husband would get along lol.
I have several boxes that contain similar items. Items that once belonged to the kids that I thought they would enjoy to see as adults. Which they did for about 5 minutes an then put back in the box, back at my house. Do I keep these things or is it time to make room for new stuff. Hummm decisions decisions lol.
That is the hardest part wanted it to mean as much to others as it means to you! I had to ask my son if he wanted to keep or giveaway many items this way it was his choice. I was happy with the few special ones he did keep. The others we let go.
I really enjoyed this post, it’s beautiful In it’s own way
Thank you so much
Great article! For me the hardest is to get rid of my son’s items. He is 3 now and I kept a bunch, but can’t keep every single little thing (clothes, toys, blankets) My husband , on the other hand, easily lets things go saying he keeps memories in his head, pictures on his phone, instead of collecting physical items. Which I agree with him as well.
I think Moms would keep it all 🙂 What helped me what keeping the things that I could remember a happy story attached to it. When I donated the other stuff I kept thinking to myself another child would have a part of my son by getting an item that had made him happy and now would make another child happy. Letting go is so hard. But our husbands are right, no one takes the memories from our heart (and phones lol)
Great tips on moving forward. It is so hard to let go of stuff and move forward, but such a necessary and healing thing.
yes, it can be very healing to let things go. It still stays in the heart.
I love the concept of “does it bring me joy”? I know that keeping this question in mind could help me make decisions in so many areas of life. Thank you!
Thank you for your comment. Joy is such a big beautiful word 🙂
It brings me sadness just to think about how I tried to rush my childhood. This was amazing and nostalgic post!💕
Thank you! I remember one day my son asked me why parents want their kids to grow up so fast. Childhood is such a short time, it should linger as long as we let it 🙂
Aww I totally feel your struggle!! It can be so hard to “throw away” those memories, but sometimes you just gotta purge. Sometimes I’ll take a picture of an item I’m giving away and keep the picture to hold onto the memory
I agree, I have started taking pictures of the item that were hard to throw away. This way when I need it I can tuck it in my purse and carry the memory with me 🙂
What a great post! Such a good reminder that it’s good to get rid of clutter, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That fruit bowl your son made is absolutely adorable, I love it!
Thank you so much. A little bowl can bring so much joy lol 🙂
The “Does it bring you joy?” method has changed so many lives. It also helped me so much to clean up my space and put in perspective my relationship with “stuff”.
Keep the memories, not the things!
I agree, asking ourselves the question of Joy really has us evaluate what is a true memory. We keep so many things that we don’t even remember where and when they came from.