Living Simply: Letting Go

     Some people have a hard time letting go of stuff. This makes it hard to live a simple life when you fill your space, mind, and lifestyle with unwanted clutter than no longer serves a purpose nor brings you joy.

     Sometimes hanging on to things is because of an insecurity. Maybe you grew up poor so you're afraid to let go of things "just in case". Those 3 words have justified hoarding in the minds of thousands of people and kept them from happiness. Maybe the number of items one has makes them (falsely) feel like they have or even are more than they truly feel. Don't let your security be determined by old junk and trinkets. You're worth more than that.

     Sometimes people hang onto stuff for decades because the items were gifts. I'll try to be gentle here, but the truth is, most people forget what they bought you last year, let alone 10, 20 or 30 years ago! I've seen people hang onto things because others gave them something they didn't even really like, "but it was a gift". The gift givers are either 3000 miles away on the other side of the country, or they've passed on years ago. If it doesn't serve a purpose or bring you joy - give it away. It's not doing you any good sitting in the garage, a basement, or an attic, or even in a hall or bedroom closet. You should be surrounding yourself with things you love and want to see displayed every day. When it ceases to draw your attention, let it go.

     What about heirlooms? This one is tougher, I know, but the rule is the same. Don't hold onto something just because it's old. If you love it - keep it, no guilt, and enjoy it. If you only keep it because it belonged to someone in your family, see if there's someone else in the family that WOULD enjoy it. If no one wants it, and it's in some storage space, maybe it's time to sell it, donate it, or throw it out. Something's value is only what others are willing to pay to buy it. If no one wants it, let it go.

     But all those years of photographs! This one's easy. You can either scan them yourself to a computer, or find a service that does that for you (there's many out there nowadays if you do an internet search). Then you can take all those digital files and save them to one small thumb/flash drive. If you want to store them, now they take up almost no room at all. If you do want them to be seen, buy a digital photo frame that you can just plug the external drive into and it rotates the photos you've got loaded onto it.

     Find your freedom in owning less things. Simplify your life by removing unwanted clutter. Live more intentionally by surrounding yourself with things that bring you joy or serve your purposes. You deserve it.