Tidying Up.

 .Deciding to downsize my belongings

To my dearest friends and followers,

This week, I dedicated myself to the task of going through my belongings. There are several factors that went into my decision to do this, and I'm glad I did - decide to do it that is. XD

For the past two or three years, I have said to people that I believe everyone should have to move at least once in their life. My family moved a lot when I was a teenager. As difficult as some of those moves were, I believe they were really good for a few reasons, but mostly because it forced all of us to go through our things. It made us realize, do we really need all this stuff (or "junk" as my mother used to say). If we hadn't used it in the last year, or missed it or thought about it, do we really need it? Probably not.

With each move I had to endure, I went through my things. I did this because I was tired of having so many things that I had to pack each time. Certain toys I thought I would never get rid of became a hassle to deal with. Certain clothes that used to be my favorite thing to wear were not appropriate for my age anymore. And so I downsized.

Once I moved to my new home and got married, I had a lot of things from my single life. I initially went through my things because I realized I had a LOT of clothes that wouldn't fit in the closet that my husband and I share. And I had one dresser that was much smaller than the dresser I used to have. So I went through my clothes and took out the things that still fit, then the things that were appropriate for my age, then the things that I still liked, since my style had changed a lot over the years. I always find myself wearing the same few items over and over anyway, so it was pretty easy to get rid of 3/4 of the clothes I owned. And of the 20+ pairs of shoes I owned, I kept 5. And I haven't missed the ones I got rid of once.

So my clothes had been gone through, and I felt like I didn't go through much else after I got married. Until recently. Over the last week and a half, I have been going through my things. I started out by asking myself, if I was going to move into a small apartment or something, what would I keep with me?

I went through my clothes again and realized there were several things I still had that I really hadn't worn or that I didn't really care for, even though I might have worn it a few times. So I got rid of them. There were probably 10 items in total - 10 items that were taking up space that would be better appreciated by someone else.

I then went through my toys again. I still had several boxes, though it was hardly anything compared to what I had a few years ago. I decided to keep my American Girl dolls, my marionettes, my favorite stuffed animals, an antique Pinocchio doll, and a few other items that all fit into a small tin box. I then went through my papers; old letters, school papers, "important" papers, etc. I felt like, "if I don't get rid of these, I'll just hold on to them forever." So I kept only what was most important to me, and discarded the rest. I have a very small paper pile now. It's not really even a pile, it's a stack only a couple inches high.

After that, I went through a few odds and ends. When it came time for my Christmas stuff, I asked my husband to help me. I knew it would be difficult for me to go through those things, as many of them hold precious memories. But he was there and I was able to downsize to only a couple boxes. I don't like the idea of having many boxes in storage filled with items that I only take out once a year. Now, I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. But I don't need a bunch of stuff in order for me to enjoy Christmas.

Last, I wanted to go through my books. I knew this would also be difficult for me, so I asked that my husband would help me, and he did. <3

In the last couple days, thanks to my husband and his having read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, I went through my books with the thought, "does this spark joy?"

I've always had the vision, or dream, of having a small library in my house. I love books. I love reading books, collecting books, writing books. Books, books, books!! Whether I liked the book or not, I kept it. Whether I read the book or not, I got a new one. I had a small collection of books I hadn't read yet - some of them I probably never will at this point and some of them are on my reading list for this year. None of that mattered though, and I still wanted to always be getting new books.

My husband read to me the section on books in Marie Kondo's book and it really helped me decide which books to keep and which to discard. I began with the easy ones, the ones I didn't enjoy. Then I did the ones I probably won't ever read. Then it got more and more difficult, and I had a LOT of books. The shelf was completely filled up, so I had begun to fill up another shelf. I even had multiple LARGE boxes filled with books.

Not any more!! I downsized a lot, everything now fits on the one shelf. And it feels great!! It looks neat and tidy. It immediately made me feel lighter. I like to have my things organized and clean, and to apply that to my books is such a good feeling. I can see what I have all in one place. I can see that it's only my favorites and ones that I am excited to read. The books I can see now make me feel good - it makes me feel happy to see them on my shelf.

Going through things isn't easy. But it is so rewarding. To be able to see and know what I have. To have only the things I truly care about. I still have several things I could get rid of, but I am proud of myself to have already made the decisions I have and to have gotten rid of so much. Yay me!! Thank you, Love, for helping me, and if you made it to the bottom of this post, thank YOU for reading. XD

Yours truly,

Me