To hoard? or not to hoard? that is the question.

I hate keeping things around that are not being used UNLESS those things have some sentimental value, there is room to store the items, or they are highly likely to be used in the very near future.

Keeping stuff that is not used simply because one is too lazy to sort through it or because at one time it was desired and purchased are not valid reasons to keep stuff.

And so here we are at that point where the last of our stuff needs to be evaluated and either tossed or hoarded.

We lost about 500sqft and an entire garage bay when we moved to this house.  And, as if that wasn't enough, we lost two built-in bookcases, and THREE closets.  Three.  We also lost two mantels and that huge area above the kitchen cabinets that were great spaces to display our treasures.

So as we were getting stuff ready for this move, keeping the above mention facts in mind, I was all about the trips to the local donation drop off.  There were some things that I thought would probably need to be donated but I wanted to wait until the stuff was all moved in to make sure.

I have made 4 trips to my local drive-up drop off location in two weeks!  I think there were at least that many trips to the donation spot before we even packed up as well.

I can honestly say there wasn't a single thing in any of those loads that I will miss.  Most of the items were small furnitures pieces, shelves, or decorative things that were purchased for a specific house somewhere along the way.  Many other items were things that I haven't used in over three years but just hung on to because I had plenty of space to shove the items in a closet or cupboard.  We also got rid of clothes, toys and books that were outgrown, out of date or just rarely used.

With each load of stuff delivered I felt a weight lifted, one load less of stuff to haul around.
One less load of stuff to find a place for.
One less load of stuff to repack when we move again.

I find peace in the offloading of the excess and stress in clutter.

So this brings me to the two members of our family who are not taller than 69 inches.
Lets just call them the Short Hoarders.

The Short Hoarders keep the most random things.  The Short Hoarders have boxes, and bins, and baskets of crap that: rarely is used, contains actual trash, are piling up into giant heaps of dust collecting disaster zones.

Yes I have a bunch of clothes and shoes, and pictures.
What I don't have is a 2006 Fantasy Football magazine, 36 hoodies of which I wear 4, dive gear that no longer fits and hasn't been used in 16 years, candy wrappers, broken race cars, empty mint tins, or anything else that you would likely see sifted through on the show Hoarders.

So, if you were to walk in to my house right now.  After I faint from embarrassment, I would take you on a tour and you would find some rooms are nicely unpacked and uncluttered and then you would find the Short Hoarders' spaces and you will feel my pain.

Don't Hoard.
That's life's lesson for today.
Don't hoard and people will like you more.


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