Reducing Clutter Adds Value to That Which Remains

Our biggest fear and the one we hear most, was; what if I get rid of something and I regret it?

It may happen, but it’s worth it.

The reality is, if you toss something that you really wish you didn’t, you can buy it again. It’s definitely worth the risk and from experience, I doubt that you’ll ever need to.

My guess is that we’ve eliminated about 70% of the things we had. My goal was that if someone came over. what they saw was what we had. The books on our shelf, that’s it, the items on display, that’s all.

Of course we have boots stored for winter and some photos in a bench cabinet, but there was at time when our garage had boxes full of things we didn’t know still existed. Our attic had a my plastic poodle from the 60’s, train sets, toys, treasures, collectors items, junk! All in one nice shepherds pie of storage. The kids didn’t want this stuff and honesty, neither did we, but we had space (although it was decreasing) and there it stayed, neat and tidy, nicely boxed in matching plastic containers. I think back now and it seems ridiculous. Ridiculous but very, very normal.

Personally, my biggest emotional toss in the trash was my set of high school year books. Heavy and rarely touched in 35 years, I finally tore out a few specific pages and ceremoniously threw them in the dumpster, without any regret. Freedom.

I cannot say that your experience will be exactly like ours, however I know that others like us now enjoy what remains so much more than when it was overshadowed by the other unimportant things. The things on display are there because they bring us joy, not because we need a place to put them.

Break it down: A cluttered environment can enable a cluttered mind. Removing the excess provides a mental freedom that is difficult to describe and should definitely be experienced.

Increase the peace.