Good Living / Housing / By DeeDee Welles
LET GO AND LIGHTEN UP! → Discover a new-found freedom by purging household items — without regret or guilt
If you’re over 50, you’re likely past your accumulation phase of life and
no longer need the volume of stuff you once did. As our lives transition into a new phase, we usually require fewer things, because we’re not raising, housing, feeding and entertaining as many family, friends and business associates. When was the last time you hosted a dinner for 40? It’s time to let those ’70s-era chip-and-dip trays go. It’s time to shed some of the other stuff, too — kid’s art and schoolwork; photos; sets of china, kitchenware and gadgets; small appliances; sentimental items; unfinished craft projects; things you might need someday and much more. Whether you’re pondering moving into a smaller home, or not, reducing the number of your belongings will give you a feeling of freedom and lightness, as you transition to a different lifestyle. Now it’s time to decide what else is leaving your home along with those spacehogging chips and dips!
Set ground rules Before you begin clearing out items, it’s important to create some simple guidelines for yourself. Decluttering experts find it’s best to go through one room at a time, one item at a time. Once you touch an item, you should decide its destiny. This strategy has been made hugely popular recently thanks to Marie Kondo’s bestselling book — The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. However, if you just can’t make a decision in the moment, you can place it in a “sell” or “donate” pile for 24 hours. If you haven’t thought about it during that time, then get rid of it. Focusing on one room or area at a time permits you from allowing yourself to drift to another room to avoid making decisions. 26 / March 2017 / Minnesota Good Age
Should I keep great-grandmother’s soup tureen? I can’t decide. I think I’ll work on the basement! Also keep in mind that the two biggest stumbling blocks to letting go of belongings are emotional attachment and the hope of recouping money spent. Here’s how to tackle those factors:
Emotional attachment Try to stay in the present when making decisions about what to keep and what to shed. Separate the emotion from the item as best you can. Belongings with sentimental value are hard to part with: When you look at them, you relive their stories. There's the sweater you wore on a special evening with someone you loved; the bathing suit you wore on a memorable island vacation (but haven’t worn