I returned to Blackwood over the weekend at Shawn’s urging to go through those boxes I’d ignored in storage. I didn’t want to — in my mind, I was letting go and since I couldn’t remember what was in them, how much did it matter? Well, I’m glad I did because inside some of those boxes were important things like my framed degree and certificates, school paperwork, artwork, and a small mountain of mixed CDs I created in the early 2000s. I brought 5 boxes back to the apartment (one was just CDs which will get stripped of their bulky plastic cases) — but double that number of boxes went to Value Village. And yeah, maybe the CDs weren’t important, but at least I should be responsible enough to deal with my own crap.
Overall, it’s become much easier for me to purge. Letters and cards that no longer resonate in any way went into the recycle bin. I kept an envelope of stuff from Shawn… because there might be a day in my future where I want to look at it again. I tore up old bank statement books from long gone savings accounts and Visa cheques that had expired over a decade ago (why were these even in boxes?). I’ve started going through my many little containers of mixed things like safety pins, screws, thumbtacks, and paperclips and sorting them out. Memo to self: do not buy paper clips ever again. I let go of my Donnie Walberg fashion doll and my reproduction Gumby and Pokey bendables — they are at Value Village (happy hunting!).
Lots of stuff I brought with me — swept into boxes during the first wave — is getting a second thinning. I mean, as frustrating as it is knowing that I hefted these boxes around with stuff in that I don’t need to keep, at least it is going away now. Stuff that I didn’t have time to file is getting filed now. Paper that I don’t need is getting recycled. Stuff I don’t really need is going into bags bound for Value Village.
In all this sorting, I have tried to keep in mind two things: does this serve a purpose? If no, does it make me happy? If yes to either, it stays. If no, out it goes. I’ve also been trying to find ways that I can make the stuff I love more accessible.
I have a growing list of things I want to frame, for example, and even if I won’t have room to have them all hung on the wall at once, I can rotate through my artwork and other memorabilia. I’d also like to get some of my own art professionally framed and see if there is a local coffee shop or similar where I can hang it for sale. (I’d like to suggest that if anyone wants to get me a gift in the future, a certificate for framing at Opus would be most welcome.)
Frames by Bart Everson
Two of my three DVD binders arrived this week (not sure why the third shipped separately and is taking its sweet time to arrive) but I am resisting sorting out the DVDs until I’ve reduced some of the other clutter around here…. because once I bust out the movies, I am going to start watching them….