Over the last few weeks, I have been on a major purge of items in my home. Originally, I just thought I would do some simple clutter clearing to donate some items to a charity garage sale that my husband was helping to put on. I only had a few days to gather items, so I did what I could in a short amount of time.
About a week later, I decided it was time to really do a deep dive clutter clearing of things that I no longer need or use. I started in easy areas of my home, particularly my living room and my office. As I started going through items, I realized how much STUFF I truly had that was just hidden away in drawers and even sitting on my decorative shelving.
In my office, I had a drawer filled with greeting cards that I had been collecting since the mid 90’s when I was in graduate school. Those cards had never been used, and they had traveled with me from Chicago to Ohio and then to several homes within Washington state. Why was I holding on to so many cards, and why was I not using them? I decided it was time to give them away.
The cards are just one example of something that I have been holding on to with the thought of “one day I’ll use that.” How many things do we have in our lives, in our homes, in our offices that we keep that will never get used? As I went through more office drawers, I had staplers, hole punches, and similar types of office tools that I haven’t used for at least 10 years. Time to purge.
The more I started clearing out, the more fun it became. My house was feeling lighter, airier, freer. I was looking for more and more places I could clear out to lighten the load. I went through my purses, shoes, and coats. I found things in my garage to let go of, as well as décor that I no longer loved.
As I write this, I still have more I want to clear away, which I will do as the days and weeks go on. Letting go of items I no longer want and need is opening the door for new opportunities to come my way. At some point soon, I will be relocating to a new house. The early purging will help the moving process in a huge way.
What are you holding on to in your life that no longer serves you or has a purpose for you? Are you willing to dig deep to let go of those things? Just think how much lighter and freer you will be when you release what is not needed. I urge you to try the great purge.