Decluttering

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Yes, it's interesting how people's ability to deal with their stuff varies. I realized as I went through this house, that my only real contribution to the mess was more books and thanks to the Aging Hippie, more CD's and DVDs that I ever know what to do with. Fortunately, they're all put together in a couple of bins. The books continue to be a problem, and I got a new compilation of Walt Whitman for Xmas, like f*** me. Also, from everyone, PAPER.
 
And as I even consider blending my life with the Big Guy's, I wonder if I will be willing to find space for his collections - coke glasses, and glass wire insulators...
 
The single most helpful piece of advice I have seen is the "container concept". I am not sure which of the decluttering gurus advocates this but she is well known.

The idea is that your storage bins, your cupboards, your bookshelves etc are all containers. You can only reasonably keep what these various containers can hold.

Helped me a lot but I was never what you would call a hoarder.
 
I'm good with that, and I'm seeing that as I organize stuff. Do I really need three bins of summer clothes? Is two large bins of shoes a bit excessive?

I sorta promised my friend who has been helping me with this that I would reduce the books to the five nice bookshelves that are left. Well, damn, it's more than that, and I confess to a temptation to call the builder of three of the bookshelves to ask her to make a fourth...

I think that I have some hoarding tendencies, of art and books, and kitchen equipment, to some extent, but the absolute bulk of what was in the house was not mine. Well, the shoes.
 
Oh, yes, they were either sibling, children, ex-boarders, late parents. Everyone was warned, and when I retrieved and delivered two ukes and guitar to my daughter, she was grateful. In the end I was a bit mad that in some purge or another, I got rid of many hundreds of dollars worth of D&D books. But I still have some LPs and 78s.

A continuing problem with paper of other's is some of my parents' paperwork (I have my dad's report cards from the early 1930s...)
 
JayneWonders said:
Do people still have dictionaries, thesaurus or similair books on their shelves?
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Yes I still have a few along with a couple of books about English usage. I like the aesthetic of having them together. It's about a half a shelf in total. I saved my old Scrabble dictionary for sentimental reasons because I used to play the game with my parents.

I could still recite for you the list of ninety-three 2-letter words from this edition of the Scrabble dictionary. The list has grown longer with newer editions being released.

My dad always said the game was completely changed by the addition of "za" (short for pizza) to the list of acceptable words.
 
Waterfall said:
Haven't needed them in the house for a long time, so no
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Mr Paradox still uses some of our crossword puzzle reference material but I just pull out my phone.

I had my hard copy biblical concordance out recently to look at the maps of the Middle East. For the Bible I mostly go to Bible Gateway online but I still like my large print NET.
 
So, it's like I'm cycling and recycling this stuff and shedding some bits. My attachment in life is to words. And visions, in the form of art. and sound.
 
My 93 yr old has a serious isssue with stuff. They had to rent a two bedroom apartment so that the second room is just stuffed with stuff. The rest ofthe apartment also has too much stuff, but at least one can walk around it.
Yesterday, I was looking for some paper to write something down and went through a small cabinet. Found a like new, but probably years old kitchen burner plate. Great for someone who just rents a room and needs to cook something. I asked why she still has it. She remembered exactly the moment her husband came home with it, and first said” it could come in handy in some situations”. They have a fully equipped kitchen. They are getting their main meals delivered. When I said I know someone who could really really use it, she was able to let it go.
I don’t think we could make major progress, it will be like this until she dies- or goes to a nursing home.
Burner is going the immigrant support group.
 
BetteTheRed said:
So, it's like I'm cycling and recycling this stuff and shedding some bits. My attachment in life is to words. And visions, in the form of art. and sound.
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I had that attachment to my books too, so I totally understand.
I actually don't keep any books at all now except for 2, go figure. When I read new books now I donate them.
 
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