Since I'm not really sure where we're moving when we eventually sell the house I'm being brutal in my approach to cleaning and purging. Another thing that has influenced my attitude toward the stuff we have is that I helped with clean up after an EF4 tornado hit a small community near here. After you see an entire house full of belonging spread over miles you start to look at things a little differently. I now look at my belongings and ask myself, "will I be heartbroken if this gets destroyed in a storm or a fire?" If the answer is no and I have no other logical reason to keep it then I find it a new home or toss it.
This book takes a similar approach in that she tells you to handle everything you own as you sort and ask yourself if this item sparks joy. Sometimes this is easy, a photo of my old dog Heidi playing in the snow sparks so much joy. Other stuff may be a little tougher to discern. Such as a travel toothbrush holder. It's a necessity and when I really thought about it I realized that the travels I take with it does spark joy. The fact that I found 6 of them under my sink and there are only 3 people living here was another story. So I chose my favorite one for me and kept 2 others for Steve and Emma. The rest went into the dishwasher and then will be donated.
She also talks about treating your belongings with the respect that the joy they bring deserves. I have wiped off so much dust and grime from things that I use everyday but just didn't see with those eyes. In the end it will be so nice to open a drawer, cabinet or closet and know that everything in there is something I purposely put there and that it is clean and ready to use. She also talks about how it is important that everything you own have a home where it belongs. This is something that I have always striven for and failed over and over. This is also why we own 4 large metal retractable tape measures, 3 levels, 6 toothbrush holders and countless other random duplicates. Because when we need one we can't find it so we buy another.
Our next house will be smaller than this one. That is one of the main reasons we are selling. I've found that the old adage that you fill the space you have is so true. I've found so much random crap in weird places that if we didn't have so much space I would've had to deal with ages ago. Also I don't want to pay someone to pack and move things I'm not using and then be stressed out and rushed to do something with it when we arrive wherever we're going while unpacking. Packing and moving is stressful enough.
I'm going to write some posts over the next few days and weeks of the process I've been going through. When I started I wasn't doing a very good job of taking in process photos but I have enough to share what I've done I think.
