It’s August. Often a time to pause, relax, refresh, and reset before hitting it again with school and/or work in September.
One way to help refresh and reset your personal space is to get rid of items that you haven’t used in a while or items that have outgrown their usefulness altogether.
Shocking as it may sound, we do that a lot here around the chateau. Of course, some of the stuff–furniture, sports equipment, appliances, and just general junk–was left here by the previous owners. Still, more than a few trips to the local thrift shop and the local trash dump involve donating or disposing of our own items that no longer serve a purpose.
And we’ve only been here a little more than 18 months.
So before you go out and buy The Back To School Wardrobe, or anything else really, open the closet door or the garage door, take a hard look at the contents, and ask yourself the following questions:
Are there things in here that I haven’t used or worn in the last 6 months? If so, why haven’t I used them? And am I honestly going to use them in the next 6 months?
Why am I really holding on to them?
Are these material possessions holding me back emotionally or taking up physical space that I could use differently or better?
Would the energy in my residence flow more freely if I had less stuff?
Am I a different person now than when I purchased these things? How am I different? Can this change in me be applied to other material possessions? Can I let go of those, too? Can I let go of the self-image I had of myself and replace it with a new, updated version of myself?
Am I afraid of letting go of material possessions? Why?
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a hoarder and 10 being a minimalist, how do I rank?
Are the material things I own and value going to age well as I grow and change? Or will they quickly be obsolete?
How much are ‘dead weight’ material possessions costing me in terms of money, time, and space?
Am I paying for a storage unit to store things I don’t use?
Is my closet packed with clothes? What am I trying to compensate for?
These are just a few questions you can ask yourself to assess how you’re interacting with material possessions, and how you can get rid of things you no longer need.
I’d love to hear your ideas about how you stay streamlined, organized, and orderly.
Thanks.
- BGT