Getting Rid of Stuff: Emotional Attachments
My 32 day decluttering challenge is kicking off on Monday (and I can’t wait)! Before it starts, I’m covering three common reasons we have trouble letting go of stuff. Getting into the right mindset before you start decluttering is key to your success.
We’ve already covered “but I spent good money on that” and “what if I need it someday?”—now it’s time to tackle our emotional attachments.
Guilt
If you’ve ever wanted to toss something, but were stopped by a sudden pang of guilt, you know how easy it can be to talk yourself into keeping something you really don’t need to keep. When someone gives you something—whether it was a gift or something a family member passed down—it’s really common to feel guilt when you think about getting rid of it (even if you hate it! even if it’s not anywhere close to your style! even if you don’t have room for it, will never use it, and didn’t want it to begin with!).
But—you don’t want to spend your life managing stuff you didn’t even ask for!
Gifts don’t come with strings
If the item in question was a gift, remind yourself that gifts shouldn’t come with strings. Once the giver has given the gift, it’s up to the recipient what they do with it. If you know you won’t use something, isn’t it better to pass it along to someone who will appreciate it than to let it sit in a closet gathering dust? Whether you choose to regift, sell, or give away, it’s your choice what to do with a gift once it’s been given to you.
However—regardless of how you choose to handle it, be sure to show your appreciation to the gift-giver!
Family Hand-Me-Downs
Sometimes, family members hand down objects that they have strong emotional attachments to, but we don’t share the same feeling. If you’ve gotten saddled with boxes and boxes of family hand-me-downs, you don’t have to keep them all.
A few options:
- Choose the ones that are most meaningful to you, then offer the rest to other family members.
- Take photos of objects you don’t have space for, but still want to have a record of.
- Consider if there is a way to repurpose or condense some of the items into something that would be easier to manage.
Special Events
It can be really hard to get rid of things that are attached to meaningful events in our life. Sometimes we know we are never going to use something again, but still struggle to let it go. Whether it’s a wedding dress that’s boxed up (but taking up significant space) in your closet, a crib lingering in your attic long after anyone in your house needs it, or mementos from your own childhood, the stuff we collect over the years can end up taking up a significant amount of our storage space.
A few questions you can ask yourself:
- Is this one-of-a-kind or irreplaceable?
- If I want to keep this, is there a way I can display or reuse it?
- Can I cull my collection? Instead of fifty concert t-shirts, can I keep five favorites? Or can I have a quilt made out of them instead?
Another great strategy is giving yourself a container. Allow yourself to keep as much as you want from a certain time period or event—as long as it fits into your container. When you run out of space, it’s time to reevaluate what you want to keep.
Letting Go
It’s hard to let go of things that we feel emotionally attached to, but letting go of an object doesn’t mean we are letting go of the memories. And the more discerning we are with what we choose to keep, the more we will appreciate those things!
32 days of declutter starts Monday, January 8th—follow along on Instagram to get the daily challenges!
Read more in my decluttering series:
I Spent Good Money On That · What if I Need it Someday? · 32 Days of Decluttering Kickoff · Clutter is a Thief · Clutter Makes it Hard to Find What You Need
