the tyranny of stuff

"Give yourself time my friend and you will start to see that the ties that bind you to stuff will begin to weaken and you will finally be free from the tyranny of placing too much importance on stuff. Very little of it matters and the more you declutter the more you will come to realise that. Just keep letting go of it and it will begin to let go of you."


Great advice from the blog 365 less things .  
 
Today as I looked through my off season clothing that had been stored over summer, I found a dress with a moth hole right in the centre front of the top.  I might be able to repair a small hole on a sleeve, but this has made the dress into garbage.  Not a huge loss, since I hadn't worn it for several years anyway.  The question is, why do I have so many things that I can't properly look after them?   This isn't valuing my posessions, it's me creating junk!  Pictures that aren't framed and displayed get mildew in the basement, wool items get moth eaten, metal rusts.  I might as well toss it now, or even better give it to someone who will value and look after it.
 
Plus it's a beautiful weekend and I'm inside dealing with clutter.  This is a poor way to live my life. 
 
Good news is I've rented the upstairs apartment.  Which is one of the reasons I have to deal with some of the extra stuff I had stored up there.  Now I have to be careful not to go buy more things I think I need, just because I have the extra income.   The 'one in one out' principle must be adhered to!
 

Cat photos - I love Audra's golden eyes!

The kittens are getting bigger.  This is a rare shot of all three together.

Old clutter

This weekend I got into some serious decluttering.  Following an example I saw on Raverly, I decided to let go of 50 items.  At first it was difficult, but as I went along it got easier, and I made it to 50 without too much difficulty.

Even better, I was able to let go of some sort of sentimental things that I'd carried around a long time.  Some of them I didn't even like much, for example a majorica plate from my grandmother, some were in poor shape like a strange egyptian wall hanging from a great aunt; some didn't work, like a watch my former husband gave me before we were married.  No reason to to be constrained by family history, have shabby things or hang on to the past.  Let it all go.

I also parted with some extras like the fourth set of sheets, or the odd towel. I find it difficult to part with these types of things, but honestly I think I'd prefer to have a spacious feeling instead of being overwhelmed by stuff. I even let go of a few books!

Picture of Rory and Pico - nothing to do with decluttering!