Sunday, 10 November 2024

Decluttering

 The process is slow...

I realised today that my de-cluttering started...with the help of my 4 children.with kicking out, deservedly, of their father in 1997. 

But every time you move you sort a certain amount....run out of energy and repack it in boxes ( if it indeed came out) .

I've moved, sometimes had to move, many times since then. It knocks you "back to square one"

The good thing about decluttering is that it gives you more space, physical and mental.

The bad thing is that it takes time away from doing things...but doing things needs the physical and mental space...so it carries on going around in circles.

Keeping too much can be a reaction...I'm like my father in that...a reaction to people who clear out your precious things regardless...

My mother....and my ex....

I have always valued history....and things which prove it....

So I get together with Pirate, who had some of the same experience....and then we moved together, the contents from two three bedroom houses going into a one bedroom one living room (plus small bathroom and kitchen) that we call a"But 'n Ben" !!

We were slowly sorting things...being busy doing gardens for people as well as racing and training doesn't leave a lot of sorting time!...but now I have to sort and reduce for the two of us.

And it has started..one cast iron casserole, never used, sold...a few other things listed..on top of what has already gone to Op Shops.




And not the mug to come from any but an only child.....he put that at the back of the cupboard when that arrived! ( He had three kids...)
Sold...

There's a few more things to clean photograph and post online tomorrow.

Then there are my friends the books.....


21 comments:

Fresca said...

Oh, I love decluttering, and seeing people do it:
Hooray for you!
BUT it does indeed take time and, for me, *emotional* energy. I was just doing it this afternoon and felt I needed to take a nap after half an hour...
But am having a cup of tea and a break instead.
Easy does it.
Onward!

Tom said...

,,,decluttering can be an endless job!

Susan said...

Decluttering takes some strong will. That said, everything feels lighter and better. The problem is: It is never finished. That's my experience.

angela said...

Decluttering is very Cathartic. I remember when the kids left home I did a huge amount of relocating of many things. I felt physically lighter.
Memories some good and some bad were brought up and then let go.
It will leave room for new experiences

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Decluttering is a pain to do but a joy to achieve!

thelma said...

Be careful with the books. I miss my books given away and they will often float into the mind as time passes. :)

JayCee said...

I have decluttered only twice...each time I just ended up filling the space with more "things".

Aimz said...

I don't know if I could get rid of my books, I don't have a great deal of them but the ones I do have are all historical and well valued.

Bovey Belle said...

I was hoping to get rid of a bit of stuff at the Fair last weekend, but then I got ill . . .

Please don't mention books - I have 100s here surplus to requirements, some of them quite collectable (£50 a time) so I won't be giving those to a charity shop - especially as a booksellers comes round to give them pennies for what has been donated. That's why you only find novels and old undesirable books in charity shops these days.

Jeanie said...

Yes, yes, and yes. It seems like I tend to declutter most when emergencies (like mold and bedbugs) mean having to go through everything and throw or clean and donate! I know when I move (four years) I will have trouble dealing with books.

northsider said...

I am a Womble. I can't declutter . Books are like old friends.

Red said...

Good luck on your decluttering. Our kids won't take much but at least they're out of the house so isn't that some decluttering? Lately stuff doesn't sell so more of it is donated.

gz said...

Yes!

gz said...

Especially when you realise that books are kept in charity shops..even the ones that have specialist book branches..for a certain length of time and then are pulped. So nothings g special will go to them

gz said...

Yes...the ones that are lent out and never returned...
I once ended up with three copies of a certain book...two were packed away in successive moves....

Steve Reed said...

It is a process, for sure! Good for you for making slow and steady progress.

Catalyst said...

Oh! Go easy on the books, would you, please.

Pam said...

Oh, decluttering... We're forever taking stuff to charity shops but it never seems to make much difference... However, the fight continues. Intermittently...

gz said...

Definitely!!

gz said...

We donated a lot and I have carried on with that...but some things are worth hanging on for the right recipient

Debby said...

I would be knocking on your door to get that cast iron dutch oven! However it makes no sense to ship it here. Sad sigh.

Decluttering is interesting. I will be doing a bit of that down the road. Indeed, I have already begun. A little. I know that my children do not want anything that I have, and so I find myself taking stock. With everything that goes, it feels as if I am getting closer to myself and what really matters to me. Like peeling away the layers of an onion. And self discovery is exhausting.