Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

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Replies

  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
    edited July 2018
    peggym4640 wrote: »
    I did a very large purge over July 4th and ended up processing some old emotional baggage as well as the physical. It lasted about 10 days and I'm better for having processed both. I went through my workout stuff yesterday which I never give up. Very happy to say I did let some go. In a few weeks, I'll start on the paper. There's no room for the new with the old taking up so much space. Well done, everyone and thanks for the tips.

    Wow, I REALLY appreciate your post so much. Something about you using/experiencing the term "process/processing" send a kinda joy/delight/understanding/light bulb moment to/for me. How ultra cool of you to "purge" your heart/mind/life/surroundings of a lot of excess/unnecessary/nice but I won't use it/space devouring/extra/old/it's time to let it GO "stuff"--that's just powerful. To "process" the old baggage, instead of just pretending/ignoring/down-playing it is the stuff wise champions are truly made of or at the very least, learn and do. Thank you ever so much for contributing to this thread--you ROCK, period.

  • snoo61
    snoo61 Posts: 549 Member
    edited July 2018
    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    I'm cleaning our loft and found a lot of kids duct tape, art supplies, and paints. So, I looked up online where to donate arts and crafts things, and it turns out there are a lot of places. Some of the most noticeable ones are to rape crisis shelters and Domestic Violence shelters but also art therapy places.

    I also scheduled a donation pick up from Vietnam Veterans website. And it was as easy as entering my address online. I'm making great progress de-cluttering.

    What kind of donations does the Vietnam Veterans website take/need?
    I need some of your ambition!
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,370 Member
    snoo61 wrote: »
    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    I'm cleaning our loft and found a lot of kids duct tape, art supplies, and paints. So, I looked up online where to donate arts and crafts things, and it turns out there are a lot of places. Some of the most noticeable ones are to rape crisis shelters and Domestic Violence shelters but also art therapy places.

    I also scheduled a donation pick up from Vietnam Veterans website. And it was as easy as entering my address online. I'm making great progress de-cluttering.

    What kind of donations does the Vietnam Veterans website take/need?
    I need some of your ambition!

    I am on Summer break so I have the time. I also have been purposely avoiding shopping because I don't need one more item in my life. So cleaning is a great alternative. VV take clothing especially - I'm giving them some books too, sheets and towels. On their site, they state what they need.
  • Snowflake1968
    Snowflake1968 Posts: 6,949 Member
    DebLaBounty wrote: »
    Somehow I ended up being the designated Keeper of Memories. When my great uncle died, I was given all his photo albums. When both sets of grandparents died, and my mom downsized, I got the boxes of generations of photos. Then my mother in law insisted I accept a box of loose unorganized pictures of my husband’s entire life. Ugh!! I don’t scrapbook, but I have over time made some photo albums for myself and thrown away boxes of pictures. There were dozens of duplicates and scores of pictures of people nobody in the family could even identify! There were so many pictures of landscapes that were taken on other people’s vacations . None of these had dates on them. Now I’m left with just one storage tub, and have room finally for my own things in my sewing room closet. Such a huge relief!!

    I have inherited all of this from 2 set of grandparents, 2 sets of Great Grandparents, 1 Great Uncle and my parents. It is such a daunting task! I did the same with a lot of pictures, I have more to go. I got rid of the old parades, landscapes, horse and tractor pulls but I'm having such a hard time with the old people that I don't even know who they are!
  • snoo61
    snoo61 Posts: 549 Member
    Snowflake1968 wrote: »
    DebLaBounty wrote: »
    Somehow I ended up being the designated Keeper of Memories. When my great uncle died, I was given all his photo albums. When both sets of grandparents died, and my mom downsized, I got the boxes of generations of photos. Then my mother in law insisted I accept a box of loose unorganized pictures of my husband’s entire life. Ugh!! I don’t scrapbook, but I have over time made some photo albums for myself and thrown away boxes of pictures. There were dozens of duplicates and scores of pictures of people nobody in the family could even identify! There were so many pictures of landscapes that were taken on other people’s vacations . None of these had dates on them. Now I’m left with just one storage tub, and have room finally for my own things in my sewing room closet. Such a huge relief!!

    I have inherited all of this from 2 set of grandparents, 2 sets of Great Grandparents, 1 Great Uncle and my parents. It is such a daunting task! I did the same with a lot of pictures, I have more to go. I got rid of the old parades, landscapes, horse and tractor pulls but I'm having such a hard time with the old people that I don't even know who they are!

    Some local museums/historical sites like old photos, might be worth looking into.
  • Snowflake1968
    Snowflake1968 Posts: 6,949 Member
    snoo61 wrote: »
    Snowflake1968 wrote: »
    DebLaBounty wrote: »
    Somehow I ended up being the designated Keeper of Memories. When my great uncle died, I was given all his photo albums. When both sets of grandparents died, and my mom downsized, I got the boxes of generations of photos. Then my mother in law insisted I accept a box of loose unorganized pictures of my husband’s entire life. Ugh!! I don’t scrapbook, but I have over time made some photo albums for myself and thrown away boxes of pictures. There were dozens of duplicates and scores of pictures of people nobody in the family could even identify! There were so many pictures of landscapes that were taken on other people’s vacations . None of these had dates on them. Now I’m left with just one storage tub, and have room finally for my own things in my sewing room closet. Such a huge relief!!

    I have inherited all of this from 2 set of grandparents, 2 sets of Great Grandparents, 1 Great Uncle and my parents. It is such a daunting task! I did the same with a lot of pictures, I have more to go. I got rid of the old parades, landscapes, horse and tractor pulls but I'm having such a hard time with the old people that I don't even know who they are!

    Some local museums/historical sites like old photos, might be worth looking into.

    That's a good idea - thank you.
  • Snowflake1968
    Snowflake1968 Posts: 6,949 Member
    snoo61 wrote: »
    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    Decluttered my clothing in all the drawers and closet of bedroom. Made a mountain of donations. This morning, I woke up, and I opened all the drawers to admire them. Everything was folded neatly and in order. I'll keep going ... not to part of the basement.

    I did the same thing in April. Now i keep a garbage bag in my laundry basket. When I fold something I don't like, or doesn't fit, it goes in the bag. When the bag is full, time to donate. Helps me stay on top of it. :)

    I have been doing that for a couple of years it makes a big difference!
  • CSSJ09
    CSSJ09 Posts: 296 Member
    Snowflake1968 wrote: »
    DebLaBounty wrote: »
    Somehow I ended up being the designated Keeper of Memories. When my great uncle died, I was given all his photo albums. When both sets of grandparents died, and my mom downsized, I got the boxes of generations of photos. Then my mother in law insisted I accept a box of loose unorganized pictures of my husband’s entire life. Ugh!! I don’t scrapbook, but I have over time made some photo albums for myself and thrown away boxes of pictures. There were dozens of duplicates and scores of pictures of people nobody in the family could even identify! There were so many pictures of landscapes that were taken on other people’s vacations . None of these had dates on them. Now I’m left with just one storage tub, and have room finally for my own things in my sewing room closet. Such a huge relief!!

    I have inherited all of this from 2 set of grandparents, 2 sets of Great Grandparents, 1 Great Uncle and my parents. It is such a daunting task! I did the same with a lot of pictures, I have more to go. I got rid of the old parades, landscapes, horse and tractor pulls but I'm having such a hard time with the old people that I don't even know who they are!

    Your town newspapers and libraries and historical societies may want the pictures for their archives. They may even be able to identify people or occasions.
    CJ
  • RetiredAndLovingIt
    RetiredAndLovingIt Posts: 1,395 Member
    I love looking at old pictures..even when I don't know who they are.
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,370 Member
    I like the post and link about NEAT. I think some of us do that naturally. I always try to park far from a store. I also try to do planks through out the day. I never knew there was a name for that type of activity. Thanks for sharing the link @NewLIFEstyle4ME and @Orphia
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,370 Member
    @NewLIFEstyle4ME I like how you walk to the grocery store. I think our brain needs that type of experience. I once heard Deepak Chopra speak about vibrations and how all the electronics/tv/phone/car/machinery produce so many hidden vibrations that we need to get away from that as much as we can.
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
    JulieAL1969 wrote: »
    @NewLIFEstyle4ME I like how you walk to the grocery store. I think our brain needs that type of experience. I once heard Deepak Chopra speak about vibrations and how all the electronics/tv/phone/car/machinery produce so many hidden vibrations that we need to get away from that as much as we can.

    Thank you so much Julie for posting this <3o:)<3
  • allmannerofthings
    allmannerofthings Posts: 829 Member
    @snoo61 Sorry to hear that - hopefully you can get replacements that you like even better than the old ones.
  • snoo61
    snoo61 Posts: 549 Member
    allmannerofthings wrote: »
    @snoo61 Sorry to hear that - hopefully you can get replacements that you like even better than the old ones.

    Thanks, I have to laugh because that was my first thought about the stove. :)
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
    edited July 2018
    QueenBee2018 wrote: »
    I have been enjoying this thread from the start--thanks OP-- and finally have one to add, with a bit of mortification and a chuckle. I have done the deep debulk and donation of multiple truck loads of stuff in the past but apparently always skipped one area. Today I decided to clean out the two shelves in the bathroom that are designated for things like bandaids, extra razor blades, soap, cold medicines and so on. And I put on my granny glasses (apparently for the first time) and found to my embarrassment I had multiple expired items, meds, visine, etc. But the worst one was the Calamine lotion. It expired in 1994!!!!! This bottle of calamine predated the birth of 3 of 4 of my grown children!!!!

    My absolute pleasure and THANK YOU ever so much for contributing to this thread! Way to go winner AND I so can relate to skipping places (for me it was the multitudes of chipped and excess mugs I've "collected" over the years). AND I haven't yet tackled my garage. It's not "necessarily" messy nor has a lot of excess "stuff" in it--but I've got stuff in there that's just collecting dust and is totally unnecesary AND hasn't been dusted/swept/mopped/decluttered in an embarrassingly LONG TIME--your post has inspired me to tackle that immediately if not sooner=tomorrow--FOR SURE) The expired stuff in the medicine cabinet and pantry is sooooo the norm--it's amazing how we can just hold on to "stuff" thinking we "may" need it one day. Like the 1+ year old dressings, condiments, and stuff in the fridge/pantry or cupboards. Girl....that's soooo funny, Calamine lotion from 1994 (older than your grown children) it's real and it's so GOOD to let it go (at last).

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