Purge-a-tory: The Hell You Face When You Move

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I’m a sinner. I am guilty of the sin of hanging-on-to-things-ness.  I’m not even sure where it stems from; loving beautiful, well-crafted things, thinking I’ll once again fit in to those jeans, my ridiculously over indulged sense of sentimentality, thinking I’ll scan those photos, a deep insecurity from childhood 😉 … Whatever has brought me to a place where I moved the equivalent of three households full of stuff, I am determined to get more zen, dammit, and purge yet more items than I already did before I lugged them over to my new abode. (My moving status should help to explain, if not excuse, my remiss-ness in not posting in a while *sheepish grin)

The title photo shows my new view.  Why do I not mind the current clutter chaos caused by this move?  The reasons are self-evident.

As I consider myself a sort of word crafter, I of course had to coin a new term for the process of elimination that I’m going through; hence my newest word: Purge-a-tory. They say when you’re going through hell; keep going!

I have found this article about uncluttering from Oprah magazine to be a great guide, now that moving the stuff has motivated me!  I need all the help I can get if I am to be absolved.

I’m having fun, actually, deciding to part with things that I’ve treasured for, yes, decades and “gifting” them to people who I know will appreciate them.  To me, that is key in letting go of things.  Passing them on to people who will love them on your behalf, or people who are more needy of clothing, dishes, or cozy down comforters (I don’t need to own three!)

I reduced an entire wet bar into one handy tray. Note the precious pinecones.

Just yesterday I bestowed my beautifully hand-painted Santa Barbara Tile trivet with lemons and a pretty border to my friend and culinary crafter, Cathy.  She clutched it to her lovingly which made me happier than keeping it for another 20 years would have.  I’m on a mission.  I feel like I’m interviewing people to determine their needs.  Books, CDs, curtains, copper pots (wow, are people clamoring for those! – get it? “clamoring”?) and all manner of tchotchkes. Sound familiar to your storage closet?

Paloma - Can you blame me for my sentimentality?

I have a confession: I have yet to part with the collection of pine cones my beloved dog Paloma brought home from myriad walks through the woods.  I can still see her ears bouncing happily and her tail wagging proudly as she carried her prize all the way home. I am a sentimental sap, aren’t I? ;-} My friend Gretchen was aghast that I was justifying keeping these and I giggled when I told her I even know where they are. *See photo above.

Which gets me wondering if clinging to these things is more emotional than practical (duh!). I think they represent times for me when I was more homey, less vagabond-y, more grounded, and more flush with cash – haha!  I especially cringe when faced with the prospect of letting go of something that was a gift from a friend or loved one. (Well, they’re all loved ones, aren’t they?) There’s a symbolism to letting go of tangible things that extends to the spiritual and emotional.

I like the direction my life is going in.  I like that I am finally traveling a lot more and feel the need to free up my home from the clutter and clingy-ness.   Not to mention organizing what I do want to keep so that I can access it!  My mom says,

“If you can’t find it in 10 minutes, you don’t own it.”

I agree and remind myself of this constantly.  Anyway, I wanted to share my current quest with you, my thoughtful and inspiring readers, to ask how you’ve learned to release yourself from the bondage of possessions possessing you.  Please, I implore you! Give me insights, tips, encouragement, ridicule ;)) And anyone want a really nice lava lamp? (kidding! Now that, I would keep if I had it 😛 )

If you like my tales of my purging travails, you may also enjoy: Exfoliation Nation: Purging Turning Into Splurging

Professional Black and White Photo of Paloma by my friend, Frank Bruynbroek

All other photos by Gina Stark