Clutter Control: How To Let Go

As I looked at the fading-but-still-pink gerbera daisy that sat drooping ever so slightly on my nightstand, I found myself wondering why I hadn’t thrown it out yet. I told myself “it still has its color” and “a slightly past its prime flower is better than no flower at all,” but even as these thoughts came up the Big Questions crept to the front of my mind: Do you love it? Is it very useful? The answer to both? No. Even though there was nothing horribly wrong with it, the flower was no longer bringing me the same joy it did when it was fresh. Why wasn’t I throwing it away?

Letting Go of Clutter
We hang on to our stuff for so many different reasons; it has sentimental value, we might use it someday, we use it even though it’s not really ideal (like my flower), or we just plain feel guilty getting rid of it because we feel like we should love or use it.
That last one is often the toughest. Whether it’s a terrible picture frame that your grandmother gave you or a cake decorating set you bought in a fit of baking optimism, you have to give yourself permission to get rid of the things you don’t love. Donating that picture frame to a thrift store doesn’t mean that you love your grandmother any less, and it just may bring an extraordinary amount of joy to someone with different decorating tastes. Keeping evidence of a hobby you never got around to pursuing only makes you feel guilty about the money you wasted. Let yourself love what you love and use what you use. Anything else is just taking up space.