What Has It Done For Me Lately?

I used to be the quintessential pack rat. I kept everything, as I discussed once before. Some of it was in collections, some was just stuff I thought my be important later; the occasional memorabilia from a particularly poignant moment in my life. Whatever. There was a bunch of junk.

No more. I have since flushed from my person this overwhelming need to cling to things. I can without hesitation discard any and all birthday, holiday, anniversary or get well soon cards. I just don't see the point of keeping them. On the rare occasion that the sentiment expressed is from someone who has or will soon pass away, I understand holding onto a token from your relationship to refresh those formerly shared feelings. But other than that, what's the point?

If it's a family member you are still close to, you can express those feelings any time you wish. If it represents a romantic relationship that went south, why keep it around to punish yourself? I mean, unless there's some chance of winning her/him back, it's over. There's no upside to rehashing those feelings you're never going to get to share again. And if the flame can be rekindled, get out there and rekindle it! What good does it serve moping around re-reading creased and crumpled love notes when you can be spending time with the source of such emotions?

And that's just an unnecessarily long diatribe on cards. Don't get me started on the chintzy crap people fill their lives with. I'm all about having nice stuff. I get trying to make a place look nice. But why do you have boxes upon boxes of decorative materials if you already own your home and it's already decorated to the nines? No, you don't need a storage unit, you need a swift kick to the head. Okay, that's a little harsh, but come on people! You have no idea how liberating it is to slough off all the layers of superfluousness and bask in the freedom of the unencumbered.

Sure, all that "stuff" means something. Each little thing has it's own special meaning. But I don't feel like it's accumulative. If you have one stuffed animal from them, then the other 32 don't really add anything. Oh, I know, this orange teddy bear is from when you went to the state fair, and this slightly smaller orange teddy bear is from when you went to the traveling carnival that set up in the Costco parking lot.

Let's un-clutter, people. Give it a try. Ask yourself the hard question, "Will having or not having this ever impact my life again?" If the answer is no, it's time to let go.