giving away sentimental items

My next (and hopefully last) big move is coming up in just a few days. Tomorrow most of my belongings will be in a big metal box headed off and I have spent the past few days packing. Now packing is not one of my favourite things to do, but I do love getting to go through the things I own and deciding what I don’t want to cart across the country and bring into a new home (which rejoice we have a place!). I have yet another big load of clothing and other household items to take to the thrift store (yes, even after we did that big declutter in January) and I even managed to give a bunch of my clothes to my friends.

Some of the clothes I am giving away this time are clothes I have held onto for a long time, much longer than I probably should have because these are sentimental. There are clothes that as soon as I see them I am reminded of specific days, of anniversaries and fun times, of special places and people. This is even the case for some of my books, like my copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which I read to Nigel over the course of our first road trip across the country. Many of these items are things that I haven’t worn or used in months or even years, but I didn’t want to ever give them up.

I decided this week that enough was enough. Those clothes didn’t hold the memories within them and I wasn’t going to lose what I remembered by giving away items. Changing this mindset suddenly made it so much easier to give away those items I had been holding on to. Nigel was very sad to see some of the items piled on the spare bed which included the dress I wore on our first anniversary, and other clothing pieces that he was very attached to, but I had already said goodbye to them.

I am no longer the same person who wore those clothes, so it shouldn’t be expected that I hold onto them only for them to grow dusty in the back of a closet. As I minimize my wardrobe and contemplate starting a capsule wardrobe I don’t need things that I do not wear.

Now I didn’t donate anything that was super sentimental, but that is also something that can be written about. You don’t need to keep everything that reminds you of a certain someone as at some point it becomes clutter. I am also not telling you to get rid of everything except for a mat on the floor, but I do believe that there can be a happy medium that allows you to appreciate the things you do have because you see and use them. Pick one or two things that are special and you will use or appreciate and pass other things along.

The photos that have been interspersed throughout this post all include clothes that are headed to the thrift store this week and it was so nice to look back at the photos and think about the days and places they contained, but I don’t miss what I was wearing. Moving really helps me put into perspective what I have versus what I need and while I am not telling you to move across the country, take a look at some of things you are holding onto and see if they can be passed along.