Acquired a whole lot of stuff along the way to becoming someone you never quite became?
Kitchen cabinets jammed with stacks of unopened gourmet cookbooks and expensive cooking widgets {that were maybe used once or twice}.
A garage packed with all manner of big-ticket sports equipment {from at least a generation ago}.
The cache of musical instruments stuffed in the back of a musty closet or two {from way back in elementary school}.
Overflowing boxes laden with dusty, unused craft supplies {from the '80s}.
Clothes bought on a whim stored in a rarely-opened garment bag {with the tags still attached}.
Painful piles of memorabilia from a love, a friendship, a relationship {that's long since departed}.
Writer and blogger Francine Jay muses, "Do you have a fantasy self? And if so, how much of your clutter belongs to it?
All too often, we hold on to stuff because it represents who we think we should be, rather than who we are. Sometimes our fantasy selves are meant to impress others; sometimes they’re relics of our past; sometimes they’re fantasies about our future.
Whatever the case, it’s important to remember: acquiring stuff for your fantasy self doesn’t make it a reality. Most of the time, it only leads to a lot of “nice” clutter you never actually use."
Check out her list of 10 fantasy personalities.
Any of those descriptions ring a bell for you?
What strikes you when you see yourself in black and white?
Ready to embrace who you REALLY are in this season by saying good-bye to that dream/hope/fantasy that never quite made it?
I've said good-bye to the pasta machine I used once. Hundreds of carefully cut-out, never used magazine recipes stashed in wrinkled old folders. The dozens of once-loved cross-stitch books. The piano that saw hour after hour of faithful practice. Stacks and stacks of paper and cards and notes from eons ago. Photos of people I couldn't even identify. My husband's trumpet from high school. Some collectibles and lots of tchotchkes that have long since lost their charm.
Most recently it was a whole, dusty file drawer of every note and test I ever took, every handout I ever laid my eyes on, everything I ever wrote through college and graduate school. {Yes, I saved a few papers ...}
There's lots more to go. 'Cause I'm not now who I was then.
You, too?
Linda
P.S. #1 Need more motivation? You'll appreciate "Home is not my stuff."
P.S. #2 Check out "101 Places Where Your Clutter Can Do Good."
- picture by Jim in Times Square -
