If you did a 31-day March declutter challenge, how did you do? If you are continuing the 40-day challenge, how is it going?
I am continuing with the 40-day declutter challenge.
I wanted to do a deeper dive into one of the reasons we keep clutter. One of the reasons we keep clutter is because of the value we place on our items. We may value something because of the memories associated with the item or because we paid good money for it. Or someone gave it to us as a gift and we value that gesture even if we don’t use or like the item. We may also keep something because it is part of our legacy.
So, I wanted to speak to the value of our items by using my experience as an example. I have regularly taken clothing, purses, and shoes to consignment shops (yes plural) because in my opinion there is still value in them or because I bought them on impulse and didn’t end up even taking the tag off or because I paid “good money” for an item. What I have learned through this process is that what I think has value and what the stores take on consignment are two different things. And that is okay. It is okay because I keep the goal of having less clutter in my home at the forefront.
If we want to declutter (which is different than organizing) we must purge items and we must realize that it does not serve us to hold on to items just because we think they have value.
That brings me back to my declutter challenge work. As I planned this year’s challenge for myself, I scheduled a consignment shop day for my clothing/shoes AND I scheduled a drop to my favorite charity on the same day. This goes back to my suggestion in a previous post of planning to get the items purged out of the house in a timely manner.
Good news for me, this time, they took 2/3s of the items for consignment and the rest I donated. This makes me feel good that I have moved items that no longer serve me to someone else who could use or love them.
So, what value is something if you don’t use it, abuse it by having it in a pile on the floor or keeping it in storage? I suggest that if you don’t use it or love it, let it go. Yet, you might ask about family treasures and how you could get rid of those legacy items, but more on that in another post.
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