Purging Greeting Cards, Old Photos, & Stuff: 10+ Tips from a Family Memory Manager (me!) ~tops
and in truth, you are never 'done'. Everyday life provides more and more potential memories/memorabilia, and I currently treat it like a garden. Consistent weeding prevents overwhelm.
The major declutter/purge/weeding work has been done.. I am now on a regular weeding program.. and my beautiful garden of memories, pictures, scrapbooks, letters, art, gifts, decor... colorful, alive, creative and thriving.
I am more proactively selective now about what i keep/toss.. i keep less and less and less; whereas in my younger years i kept, and kept, and kept, and kept, and kept...
and the transition in my own lifetime, from print to digital, allows me to take and keep way more pictures than i will ever actually ever need, but WOW! to digital, and clouds.. so grateful! not having to carry hundreds of pictures, store them.. worry if there's a fire...
and! sometimes when i have gotten stuck and been unable to throw something away; if i take a digital picture of it before i let it go... much easier!
so that is TIP #1
TIP #2:
Of course you have your piles: Keep. Throw Away. Sell. Give Away/Donate.
TIP #3:
Sort things in this order:
No brainer/Easy Throw Away duplicate pictures fall in this category for me; or 800 pictures from the same special occasion. i've learned to keep a few; discard/shred the rest..
Not Sure/Can't Decide i still have albums in this category (so what..)
Definite Treasure which is on display for me to enjoy, or placed where i can easily access it.. i pray, my great, great, great, grandchildren will explore their great, great, great grandma's personal scrapbook with great interest; as i explore/enjoy memorabilia from my relatives. -great to see what remains the same internally, vs. what changes in the external world from generation to generation.
if you can't yet even decide what categories your tangible memories should go in... call for professional help.
i'm remembering here, timed math tests in elementary school: just go through and answer all the easy ones first, then go back and tackle the harder ones; employ that same strategy with your stuff.
TIP #4: It's hard work.. Tap frequently into your motivation whatever that might be: Clearing and freeing up space; Sparing your children from having to make the decisions you neglected to make..
TIP#5: It is perfectly okay to keep too much of your children's stuff and pass the memory inventory on to them. Unlike cars, memories appreciate in value with time, when they are older, they will delight in things/events/art/people they forgot, and then they can decide: keep, throw away, donate, etc.
TIP #6: Know the answer to these questions for each memory object: Why do I have this? For what reason(s) should I not throw away, sell or donate this?
TIP#7: Do not tackle declutters/purges all in one day. Take breaks.. Be very kind to yourself..
TIP#8: Celebrate in some way each time you complete a declutter/purge session -Watch or read your favorite comedy, get a pedicure, take a walk, say a prayer...
TIP#9: When you get stuck; watch and rewatch Hoarders, a documentary on netflix. This serves as motivation of a different kind... it compassionately helps instill an aversion to keeping unnecessary things..
TIP#10: Let's say, that when you die, you are guilty of keeping too many pictures, letters, art, clothing, decor, etc. Considering the variety of things we, as humans, can potentially be guilty of
keeping too much stuff, because it means something to us; because it contributed to our lives, lessons, memories; things that help us understand, see, appreciate, remember.. things that validate our existence, demonstrate what we valued at a given time; things that help us remember, what the human mind might otherwise forget, or lose access to..
as long as you are not keeping things that mold, stink, cause health problems, block the entrance to your front or bathroom doors..
be sure and get enjoyment/value of some sort, out of the memories you do keep; they are uniquely yours...
that said,
i will close with a concrete example of my relatively new and ongoing weeding process:
i just celebrated my 56th birthday; this, "thank you Jesus, family, friends," involves receiving a fair number of birthday cards
for some people, throwing away birthday cards is a no brainer.. and they do it easily, quickly, with no after thought
i am not some people.
what complicates this for me personally: so many things,
1. i love paper 2. i am a mixed media artist, cutting out portions of cards to use for.... 3. i am a poet, i appreciate the words.. 4. i love/cherish/value people's actual handwriting, signatures.. 5. sometimes cards have personal photos.. i like watching families/children grow.. 6. i collect stamps..
for the lion's share of my life; i kept them all in files..
it is only recently..
but i now keep only 1 or 2 cards from cherished friend/family.. and the rest are either returned or shredded.
-had fun earlier this year, 'recycling' a birthday card from years ago.. and sent it back to my friend that sent it to me, -on her birthday. -all the same words/sentiment, write back to you!
-sometimes we do forget, what a good friend we have been to someone else... it's a tangible reminder.
and,
if you've ever gone to visit someone.. and they kept something, you long forgot about giving them..
that is a wonderful feeling. i've been on the receiving, and giving side of that experience.
moral of my story post here today:
it's okay to keep things too. 'minimalization' is currently trending.. but be careful not to let outsiders minimalize what makes you, you; what is valuable and meaningful to you.
one of the most fascinating things for me personally.. some things that were psychologically impossible for me to part with decades ago..
no brainer today.
but had i not waited... so, it's okay to wait too.
if you are not being faced with an eviction notice (like the gentleman in the hoarders documentary); please do give yourself permission to go at your own pace.
in Jesus, what-if-no-one-saved-the-dead-sea-scrolls... name, -amen.
p.s. million "thank you's!" and enormous gratitude for the blogosphere because i get to capture limitless memories without taking up space in the house. hallelujah & amen.
posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 12:47 PM
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