#Day5: Breaking-up is hard to do

Can't tell you how hard it sometimes is for me to let things go....
I don't know if it's:

 the security of feeling like I will be prepared if I need an item, 

the sadness of being wasteful if I were to throw it out, 

or the comfort of knowing that I have ownership of things I can call my own. 

...but Maybe it's a little of each.

I grew up in a family that really didn't have a whole lot. As kids, in our family we had enough clothes to get us through a week of school, and then we would either mix-and-match wardrobe pieces or rotate the schedule so that we didn't wear those same outfits too close together for people to notice. I had 3 other siblings, so often the things we actually did have were shared or passed around. I mean, we even shared bath water to save on the water bill (TMI alert!! ...and my brother-in-law still has a hard time understanding why we would argue to be the last person to have their turn in the tub...after 2-3 people, water isn't really doing the job of getting anyone clean at that point!).
But we didn't know any different, because honestly, we thought everyone lived like that.

My dad was a hardworking steel mill employee, and my mom worked just as hard being a "housewife/stay-at-home mom." We played games, went on hikes, got pretty creative with what we did have, and made some great memories along the way. So many of our games as kids used nothing more than our imaginations, and I LOVE that!

Just like any family, we had seasons of famine but also seasons of feasting. Regardless of the season we were in, we were raised to appreciate what we had. If you were eating dinner at my table growing up, you were gonna finish what was on your plate.
Our family motto, if we had had one, would probably have been something to the effect of, "Waste Not, Want not!" ...a quote I heard all too often from my parents.


After having so little for the beginning of my life, having anything at all seems to feel like "I've made it," like "I will be okay," like "I need to prepare myself in case there's a day I might not have much again."

So maybe as I write it all down, there's a little better understandng of why it might be hard for me to just throw something out or get rid of something that maybe "no one else in this world would appreciate the way I do"...The irony is that if I truly think about it, I'm not really "appreciating" the things I have if they just sit idly in my home, doing nothing but taking up space.




Which leads to ....#Day5 of  #theminimalistproject for #noclutterNovember

November 5th, my 5 things:

1. The clothing rack was a wobbly wreck that really wasn't able to do it's job.
2. The fan was used in the kids' room the last few years....was so loud...and only worked half of the time.
3-4. The 2 kids' chairs have been outside since summer, waiting for me to officially decide to let them move on.
5. And the minivan seat has been sitting in the basement and had to go.

If you live in my neighborhood, things don't last long sitting at the curb. We have actually sat and watched out the window to see how much time it takes for someone to intercept whatever is put out...and let me tell you....it's not long!
Either:
A. someone will grab it up to take home and use themselves
B. someone will take whatever they can sell or scrap for cash
C. the garbage men will come by with "the claw"
....I have to say that only the first scenario brings me any comfort.
I like to know that someone else out there appreciates a good "curbside mall" find.
But regardless, I'm letting go!
 I'm in the process of cleaning out some emotional baggage in the form of physical "cleaning out."





So, "Goodbye, stuff from my basement. I wish I could have appreciated you more than I did, but the fact of the matter is that I don't need you, in fact, I'm better off without you. ...But if it makes it any better, 'It's not you, it's me.'"