I wish I'd taken pictures of all the items I'd gotten rid off over the last couple of years as I've actually managed to get rid of more than I initially thought I'd be able to.
The plan was to go through and remove from my home everything that I was no longer using and keeping onto for some reason. In most cases there was an emotional attachment, but in others it was to do with me buying items to try and do/ achieve and then feeling guilty about not actually doing it. But you can't move forward if you're holding onto the past so it was time to start getting rid of all those things.
I started with the clothes and got rid of everything that either didn't fit me or that I no longer liked. Since then I've kept a bag beside my wardrobe and get rid of anything I have stopped loving or that I've realised that I've just stopped wearing. That way I get them out of my wardrobe before I have any second thoughts. I've also done the same with my shoes, coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The accessories were probably the most difficult to go through as most were made for me by my Mother and Nan.
Next was all my jewellery. As a little magpie I have had a tendency to buy anything shiny that caught my eye and jewellery is an easy thing to buy some one if you don't know what else to get them (that person would be me). But while I own a lot of jewellery I only really wear a few items on a regular basis and everything else just stays where it is, so the size of my collection seemed to be a little bit unnecessary. It was actually relatively easy to get rid of most of my collection, I still have way more than I actually wear and so this is definitely a work in progress. I'll be going through them again soon.
After the jewellery I moved to the kitchen. This was actually relatively easy to get rid off as I never really had a large amount of kitchen stuff in the first place. It actually only took me about an hour. The one thing it did highlight is how much plastic I had in my kitchen and I have been slowly moving from plastic containers to the more sustainable and long lasting glass containers.
Books, DVDs, and CDs were next on the list and were actually a lot easier than I thought. Now that everything is digital and online I no longer need to have hard versions. My taste has also changed and I no longer watch or listen to what I used to. I've also been very honest with myself about the fact that I will probably not read most of my books again. Some of the books I have are my Father's and he would never let me get rid of these, but once I've read one of my books I'll get rid of it. The bit that has been difficult has been my CDs. For some reason I've formed emotional attachment to a number of my CDs despite the fact I don't really listen to them anymore. But I think I'm getting to the stage now where I can go through them again and actually get rid of the ones I've been holding to.
The last group I went through were all the stuffed toys and nick nacks I have which have all been gifts from people. I had thought that this was going to be difficult, but actually this was relatively easy. The rule I had was if I couldn't remember who gave it to me I had to get rid of it. I was also only allowed to keep enough that would fit on one shelf and nothing more. It turns out I'm not very emotional when it comes to things that are pretty but don't really have any other use.
The main thing that this has allowed me to do is to get more use out of the things I actually love (such as the clothes pictured which are actually ethically sourced - more about that later). And the more I get to ise them items the less attached I become to others, which should mean me being able to get rid of even more things.
The best thing of all is that it seems to have broken the attachment I've had to be constantly buying new things and that can only mean less stress and more money in the bank.
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