Last year I did "100 Things Gone" every month. It's hard to believe that I still have stuff, but I do. And no, I don't consider myself a hoarder, I just have a lot of interests, a busy life, and accumulate stuff along the way.
Fast forward... a mom with 4 kids at my church suddenly found herself homeless- boyfriend died of a heart attack, the house and furnishings were his, and his parents claimed them. She had to bag up clothes and books and toys in 2 weeks and move out.
By an interesting twist of fate, a great-grandparent's estate got paid out a month later, and she has bought a brand new home, but she has no furniture. Looking around my place three nights ago, I realized I could easily empty 2 tall bookcases and give them to her, she needs them, I don't. (One was full of stuff to be sorted out, mostly shredded, and the other was full of stuff I hadn't touched in the 8 years I've lived here; almost all of that went into the recycle bin too.) When she picked them up this afternoon, I also gave her two smallish table lamps.
Then I took the printer that just died, and the 2 lamps for my bedroom that haven't worked well for over a year, to the "electric recyclers" (they salvage materials). Tonight I'm savoring the new-found SPACE in my place. There is nothing in the corners in the living room. I put 2 much smaller lamps in my bedroom, and I really like the difference. (note to self: I had 6 lamps, and I only needed 2.)
I also realize that, for me, stuff is relative, i.e. she needed the bookcases and lamps, I didn't need them, it was easy to pass them on. And it was very motivational for me to declutter them. Anybody else had a similar experience?
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Originally Posted by mschrisgo2
