January Reflections: Stuff

Stuff: Do you like stuff? What stuff do you have that you could do without? Is your stuff well used? Organized? Burdensome?

I am a "stuff" person. Mostly because I'm nostalgic. I love to remember.

Dolls from my childhood, toys my siblings and I played with and now Ashton will play with, mementos Tim has given me throughout our marriage together and even before, birthday cards, Christmas cards, pictures from years ago, baby clothes that Ashton outgrew WAY too quickly. . . .

I'm still upset my parents got rid of a dresser my younger siblings had stuck stickers all over (granted, it was falling apart and didn't hold much . . . but still)

In the middle of all the remembering there are some "stuff" I could live without - old books I don't read anymore, plasticware we will NEVER use again, old furniture collecting dust and who-knows-what-else in the garage (and it's not the cool antique kind of furniture either), old appliances, and I have to say, old magazines that I probably won't ever cut articles out of for later use.

Some of my stuff is well used - mostly the pictures and the toys.

Everything else holds a memory and therefore I can't bear to part with it. Ever.

Okay, well, perhaps the Easter basket grass can go. And maybe even a puzzle or two.

I would have to say that my stuff is 50/50 organized. Some is, some isn't. Storage is an issue.

Hello, Container Store!

Some days it gets burdensome, some days it feels comfortable.

Sometimes I feel if all my stuff was neatly organized I wouldn't feel as comfortable as I do when it's all over the place. And sometimes I hate tripping over piles I need to sort through and find "homes" for.

Weird . . . I know.

It's a battle between good and evil. Darth Vadar and Luke Skywalker. Magazines versus Wrapping Paper/Gift Bags. Expired Coupons versus Healthy Living Articles.

I think there's a fine line, at least for me, between being organized and being obsessive.

I feel that I have the obsessive capability and don't want to give in. But I don't want to live with tons of piles either.

Hmmmm . . . . Seems there is a dilemma. I know there is a solution, I just haven't found it yet.