Letting Go of Material Possessions

Dear Self,

The average American home has 300,000 things.

300,000 things.

We shop because we think it will make us happier, but so often, it gets in the way of living a meaningful life.

Clothes

Are you holding on to clothes that no longer fit, hoping that one day they will? If so, your closet is likely half filled with clothes you cannot wear. Every time you open your closet, you are reminded of the weight you gained, how thin you used to be, and all the clothes you wish you could wear, but cannot. Or you put on the clothes, and they do not look the same as they used to, so you are frustrated but hang the clothes back up. It is like the clothes are haunting us. Talking to us. Reminding us that we do not look like the manikin who was first wearing them.

We do not need this kind of negativity in our life.

What if we got honest with ourselves about the clothes and let them go? If we are trying to lose weight and committed to this, we can give ourselves a time frame for holding on to the clothes. We can bag up all the clothes that do not fit and store them somewhere else for six months. And if after those six months, (or whatever time you choose) the clothes still do not fit, then we let them go. We can sell them, donate to shelters, give them to friends- any place but your sacred closet. Worst case scenario: you get rid of clothes that do not fit, lose weight, and then go buy smaller clothes. I have not heard anyone complain about being forced to buy smaller sized jeans…. Have you?  

Books

Maybe you are not holding on to clothes, but have a fancy bookshelf packed with the latest and trendiest books. You have numerous books on the shelf that you have never read but proudly display to appear intelligent. The bookshelf is likely in the living room or somewhere people can see so they awe in amazement at your book collection, and thus, your intelligence. You have every book series complete, because you cannot buy one book without buying its entire series. You cannot have holes in your collection. I admit, this was me until a few years ago. Books were the hardest for me to let go of, but I realized they were sending me messages just like the clothes. The books were calling me a failure for not reading enough. They were yelling, “you’re a fraud!” for the books that remained untouched. They judged me every time I reached for the tv remote instead of them. It was a toxic relationship.

I let go of the books I did not want to read. There was a reason I was repeatedly passing up opportunities to read certain books, and it was not because I was a failure or a fraud. I simply did not want to read the books! It was hard to swallow the amount of money wasted on these books I never read, but thankfully, I was able to give them to someone who would hopefully have a more enjoyable reading experience than I did. I can officially say I do not own any more of the talking books.

Sentimental Items

Sentimental items are commonly the hardest items to let go of because they come with so much emotional baggage. We hold on to various sentiments: This item reminds me of the glory days; This is when X happened; I must keep this or else I will forget X; I must keep this for my kids when they are grown. This is tricky because we can make any item sentimental, but our memories are not in our things; our memories are inside us. The items we hold are simply a placeholder. We hold on to them and they trigger the memory that we already have. We will not forget the memories; they are in us. They are us. But if you are really worried about forgetting, I suggest taking a photo of the item and saving it digitally instead of hauling boxes of items from house to house. We can give our children a flash drive of all their memories just as easily as we can give them 20 boxes of their childhood toys, spoons, and pictures.

Clothes, books, and sentimental items are by no means an exhaustive list of items that may be cluttering our homes. These are just some examples to start the thoughts. What are you holding on to that is cluttering your life instead of adding value to it? Is it all the home décor, the Christmas decorations, the movies, the kitchen appliances, the electronics, or the 6 different junk drawers? Whatever the item is, if it is in your home, we want it to add value. If you are interested in exploring this topic further, The Minimalists are a valuable resource. Here is a link to their website The Minimalists.

xoxo,

Self