What’s Hiding In Your Closet?
Photo by Sonny Ravesteijn on Unsplash
Have you looked lately?
I am writing this on Tuesday evening, and tomorrow is moving day. I am feeling physically and mentally exhausted, sentimental, excited and sad....it’s the end of a stage of life for my husband and I, and the beginning of something new.
As I worked to clear out the spaces in my house, I realized that I thought I knew what I had, but until you actually go through every space, you don’t really know. Every single storage area, closet, drawer, and cabinet need to be emptied, and as a result you see what has been hiding in your closet. I knew moving was hard, but I didn’t REALLY know because I had not done it in nearly 20 years. This is one of the reasons it is so hard.
I should say that I pride myself on being a declutterer - I routinely go through my closet, my bathroom drawers, the storage areas and get rid of things. And yet - through this process I have found things I have no recollection of ever getting or, are from so long ago I cannot believe we still have them. All in all, I conclude that I have acquired way too much stuff, and despite my best efforts, it has gotten the best of me. And I only want to bring things that we love, or will work well in our new home, so that means lots of selectivity. The process of clearing out is cathartic, but mostly overwhelming right now.
My thoughts around what’s in my closets are:
When you have more space, you fill it.
If you have children, you spend decades outfitting them with all the things they need as they grow and as they try new activities. This happens so quickly that you can barely keep track of what you have, what you need, what no longer fits...Then you need to figure out which mementos from said activities get saved, and how.
Apparently my 30’s and 40’s got away from me while I was busy getting things. I can see now that I was “acquiring'' as a primary activity of my life, and that reflected where I was in my knowledge of myself - as you have read in this space before - bored and restless. It also reflects the reality of a certain stage of life - see number 2.
I am glad to understand now that our purchasing quantities of stuff (particularly of the cheaper kind) has a big impact on the planet. Less stuff, smaller footprint. One trip to the dump will scare you straight towards living simply - huge piles of debris. At one dump, in one part of the country. Ugh.
Once the time comes that you have to get rid of stuff, it can cost a lot of money and time. This happens after a loved one passes, as children move out and leave things behind, when you downsize...You run up against overwhelm and actual deadlines and emotions. And donating in the COVID era adds another level of complexity because many organizations are not taking anything now and/or have become extremely selective.
Mostly, no one wants your stuff, even if you paid a lot for it, even when it is perfectly fine and in good working condition. Good luck finding a willing recipient who will come and take your stuff off your hands - especially furniture. We were lucky that our children each took a few things, and we knew someone else who was happy to take a lot of the furniture we could not keep.
One of the reasons I am looking forward to a smaller house is because it will be impossible to have as much stuff. Less stuff sounds so appealing to me. Simpler living all around.
Regardless of your stage of life, I would encourage you to take a hard look at a space in your home where you store things, but you regard with benign neglect, In that space you may have things you may use in the future, items you think you should keep, things your kids may want - or it was theirs and they want to keep it, it was valuable at one time...Go through it now with a critical and strategic eye. You will be glad you did.
