H Two Oooh
Cleaning out twenty years of junk is so much fun. That’s what I’ve been doing in my spare time lately. I’ve lived in three bedrooms in this house during my life, and still have stuff in every single one! Hellow! I finally worked my through two of them and consolidated all that paraphernalia into my current bedroom. The goal is to fit it all in one big tupperware box. (And a couple of bookshelves– I have so many books!)
You wouldn’t believe the memoribilia I’ve saved. Yesterday I found a note from my eighth grade social studies teacher thanking me for a pair of earings I gave her for Christmas! Whyyyy??!? Why did I save that?!?! (And why did I give my teacher a pair of earrings for Christmas…?)
So our new motifa was inspired by the purging-of-junk that I’ve been overwhelmed by of late. Water, change, movement, tides, nature constantly recycling and renewing itself…
And also of those fishbowl drinks we used to get at the sports bar in Bingo. You know those blue drinks they serve in fishbowls and you stick six straws in to share with your friends? I know we only partook of those tasty libations a few times, but, symbolically college was like a giant fishbowl…that we filled with blue alcohol, stuck straws in, and drank out of together…
Sort of.
Anyways, I’m not sure how much internet access I’ll have in Italia (leaving March 15) so this is a perfect opportunity for some of you out there to bone up on and utilize your HTML skills. We want to keep R.A.T.W. fresh! (like the water in our fishbowl)!!
Can you all email me your current addresses (snail mail) so I can send you stuff? Hot.
Carrie [ 07Mar05]
Wow, I am impressed with your efforts. One tupperware box?? That is amazing. I have a 6-foot high stack (at least!) of boxes like that. Oh well.
I agree that this 20-years-of-cleaning thing is a big pain. My mom gave me things I don’t even remember, like worksheets and drawings from kidnergarten through 2nd grade and my baby clothes (which are in a trunk that I haven’t looked in yet. I’m figuring I might as well save them another 10-15 years, if they’ve made it this far).
What to do with these things? It’s quite tragic really. Is there value in a 6-year old’s drawings? I do not know. Anyway, if you come up with any tips, post them somewhere, cause I need to continue the purge as time goes on.. 🙂
Shira [ 08Mar05]
OH, I have lots of tips!
First of all, just because you’ve saved it this long DOES NOT mean you should just keep it for another 10-15 years! Do you really want to be lugging that stuff around with you for the rest of your life? No! It’s going to tie you down and make every move EXPONENTIALLY more difficult.
Only keep the things with extra-special sentimental value.
Here’s an example of how to tell if it has that extra-special value:
If it’s a birthday card that I gave you, throw it away. If it’s a birthday card that I gave you on which I communicate a life-changing piece of information, then you can keep it. But it better be life-altering!
Some cards you’ve saved may be really pretty cards and you’ll think “But this one is so pretty, I should save it.” WRONG-O! DO NOT SAVE pretty cards with insignificant or NO sentimental value. Make stationary out of them or THROW THEM AWAY.
Keep everything that people who have passed away gave you.
Keep your baby clothes, first blankie, first teddy bear (or other animal), and rag doll.
THROW AWAY ALL OTHER stuffed animals!! They’re only collecting dust. They have NO monetary value. They are NOT worth saving.
Make a My Life Portfolio. If something demonstrates an important piece of information about your character, keep it. If not, TOSS IT!
Writing is important to me, being an english major and all, so I kept all the best papers I’ve ever written–from kindergarten on. But ONLY THE BEST or most interesting ones!! I saved the daily journals I wrote in every day from second grade and the short stories I composed in third grade. These writings contribute to My Life Portfolio.
Save a few (no more than ten) of your BEST drawings from the preschool years. Throw the bad ones away! (I have two pictures, and that’s really sufficient).
If you REALLY enjoyed the class in college, or KNOW YOU WILL DEFINITELY USE the information later, then save the college notebook. THROW THE REST OF THEM AWAY!!
And continue to ask yourself this question as you go through the junk–Does it demonstrate something important about who I am? If NOT, GET RID OF IT! Keep a big black garbage bag close at hand and try to fill that baby up. I promise you’ll feel so refreshed when it’s all over. And you’ll NEVER miss the stuff you tossed because it wasn’t worth saving in the first place!