The Real Declutter Question: Why am I still Holding On To This Stuff?

In 2014, I was divorced after 25 years of marriage.  Although we had always planned to upgrade our home, we never did, and ended up spending our entire lives together in the home we bought just months after our marriage.  Twenty five years is a long time, and we accumulated lots of stuff, even though we cleared out our belongings a couple of times a year.  With a growing daughter, and lots going on, stuff accumulates. Which is why learning how to declutter has been so important to me.

I kept a tidy home, but like many, there is a room or space that is, well, challenged.  For me it was the  “office”.  Our office was a multi taker.  It  was home to our significant book collection, a small TV on which Brooke and her friends often watched videos and played.  Bulging with craft supplies, Brooke and I were always working on something.  And, it was our guest room.   Oh, and I did mention we called it an office because that was it’s first function; our home office, where I ran my business.

How to Declutter

So here we are almost six years later in “the Casa” a spacious villa with no storage space.  Each year I’ve pruned my belongings, last year, my wardrobe got a huge purge, this year I’ve gone through the whole house and cut away even more.  We are now moving into the challenging territory, where I look at how much stuff I have, (which still seems to be a lot) and note how little I actually use.  

Life has changed in so many ways, and now with Covid, it’s changed even more.  We don’t entertain AT ALL.  And, while Brooke may be back from time to time, I think this August marked her really moving out.  I mean, if your kid can navigate school, a job, her finances, and Covid, I think she’s full on adulting, at this point.  So unless something happens to her apartment, I think she’s grown and flown.  

It’s time to get real about what isn’t going to be happening, and quit holding on to things for some future event.  It’s time to stop reminiscing and start living.  

This time around, I didn’t ask “do I love this?” “Does it bring me joy?” Or any of that stuff.  I asked the big question; the bold question.  The important question:  “Why am I still holding on to this?”  

The answers were “because it was my fathers…because it reminds me of when Brooke was small…we might do this at some point in the future again…my grandchildren might want this…I might use it…

Anything I “might” use is going. I haven’t used in years, why would I think I am going to use it in the future?

Do you have any other questions on how to declutter? Let me know in a comment below!