Boxing up your life.
I am in the process of moving for the first time in my life. I am leaving the house that I grew up in and venturing to some new place that will now be called home. My parents are also moving at the same time so I have stayed behind in the old house to get it finished packed and cleaned up while they are getting settled in their new place. My stuff has mostly been boxed up already and I moved a good portion of it today into storage until I get into my new place. The thought that struck me when I was loading boxes into my car is how much I haven’t missed basically anything that has been in these boxes for probably two weeks now.
Has there been a time when I probably could have used a thing or two in one of the boxes? Sure, but for the most part I could have taken all of it to Goodwill instead and not missed any of it. What does that say for importance placed on that stuff? Is it just cluttering my life and I should just get rid of it? Probably. I’m going to take a close look at stuff when I unpack it and try to weed out a lot of stuff I have outgrown or just don’t plain need.
Maybe you should try something similar? Unsure if you should just get rid of some stuff, why not try putting into a box and putting into the back of the closet or garage for a weeks and see if you really need it. Chances are you’ll probably forget about even having the items let alone missing or needing them. Why not then give them a new life by selling or donating them to someone else who could use the stuff. It clears your space and helps someone else out at the same time.
Part of my problem is a lot of the boxes I put away were full of books. I love reading and have spent a nice little amount of time scouring the shelves at Half Price books and other stores looking for gems to read. But I’ve read the majority of the stuff or honestly will probably never get around to reading some of them, and they are taking up space. I went through my two bookcases and gave each item a hard honest look. I could eliminate about two bookcases worth of books down to about one shelf if I just kept the books I really cared about.
What to do with the rest of them? Selling them is tough thanks to the oversupply of the market leading to little resell value in a lot of books. I could always take them to Half Price, but usually they will offer you a laughable small amount and from what I understand reading online they end up throwing away or recycling a decent amount of books that they “buy” back. I might list some of them on Amazon or Half.com, but you never know how long if ever it will take to sell a book. They might go in a week or sit listed for years if the market is not there for your book. In the end, I’ll probably list some on PaperbackSwap and whatever else is left, I’ll donate to my local library who will probably sell themselves at a friends of the library book sale.
Why not try looking at the stuff you have surrounding you and ask if it really is bringing something into your life? Maybe its time to box it up and send it on its way.