Have you ever thought about it all like that? I mean, on the face of it, we know that our stuff is just stuff. Ultimately, if push comes to shove, I’d rather have my healthy family with me than all of my stuff! But, you may also have that voice in the back of your mind reminding you of all of the emotion that goes with your stuff and your memories and how much all of that stuff has become a part of you as you grow up or as you move from place to place.
To get deep into decluttering and simplifying your life, you need to remind yourself that stuff is just stuff.
You need to work hard at reminding yourself that the emotion you feel when you look at an item is a memory. You own that memory, with or without the stuff. If the stuff is in the way, it’s just stuff; it’s clutter! You are allowed to get rid of it!
The more you can disconnect from the emotion and memory of the item, the more you can look at your stuff objectively. When you can do that, you can more critically decide what stuff you actually love and what stuff just attaches itself to you like a barnacle – the familiar stuff that just moves along with you through life because it’s always been there. Just because the barnacle sticks on to you, it doesn’t mean you can’t put in the work to get it off!
Remove your barnacles!
There is no part of you that is any less you if you do get rid of your stuff. Your stuff is not you. It is not your memory. It is not your emotion.
The stuff is just stuff.
You own your memories and your emotions. They are all within you. You can be free of the clutter and still keep all of the emotions that go with the stuff. It’s all about disconnecting the stuff from you. You can still love something. You can still keep things. But keep it for the right reasons. You don’t have to get rid of everything. But, when you are done with something, it’s ok to say goodbye to it, because you are still you!
Let go of your stuff! Set yourself free of guilt. Stuff is just stuff!!
Home Under Clutter 