Liberation

Ever since I started the redecoration of my flat last year (yes, it's been over a year now, can you believe it???), I've slowly started letting go of things. When I mean letting go, I mean throw away/give away. And when I say things, I mean TONS of stuff I had amassed over the years that I never used!

The list is neverending... last year I went through my clothes ruthlessly. I now have very few clothes that I actually DO wear. Sure, there are some that simply have emotional value but those are just t-shirts which I have decided to turn into carrier bags. This way, I don't throw the t-shirt away and it gives me pleasure when I use it on my weekly shops!

I went through my books and have also ruthlessly donated all those that I knew I'd never read again. I still have a pile of books I haven't yet read and unless I actually LOVE them, once I've read them, they will go also.

I went through paperwork that had amassed over the years as well and simply shredded everything that's older than 3 years. Bills from my last place of residence seem rather ridiculous to keep!

I even went as far as sorting through my audio cassette tapes... yes, believe it or not, I had a box full of cassette tapes, probably around 100 of them. Going through them was (and still is) a LOT of work and involved listening to most of them to decide whether it's worth keeping them or not. And if they ARE worth keeping, I bought a little gizmo that plugs into my PC's USB port and into my walkman's headphones (yes, I STILL had my walkman and it works just as well as it did when I bought it in 1998! LOL) and I've started transforming them all into mp3 format. Each time I finish moving something from tape to mp3 I throw the tape away. All annoyance for having to go through this aside, it's a great walk down memory lane... when else do you really make time to go through old music you used to listen to???

The bathroom had to be sorted through as well and I kicked so many samples and old creams and gels and products and heaven knows what else!

The kitchen is what has been occupying me for the last few weeks. On a whim I decided to go through some of the cupboards where I kept my pots and pans and eliminated a good part of what I knew was stuff I'd never used/never will use.

Today, I'm back in the kitchen and attacking the gadgets. I love kitchen gadgets. I have a steamer, a slow cooker (never used, bought about two years ago), a wok, a bread maker, an ice cream machine, a food sealer (google if you don't know what that is), a George Foreman grill... well, the list goes on and on.
Today the wok goes, as does the George Foreman grill - I haven't used these in ages. And the slow cooker goes as well. It's still packed in its box, never having been used... how pathetic is that??? But the truth is, I know I will never use it so what's the point? Thankfully I remember buying it and it wasn't very expensive so that makes me feel a bit better!

Overall, this purging of things is extremely liberating... there is nothing like the feeling of going into an area of your home that isn't stuffed full of crap that is weighing you down. More and more I feel like I can breathe freely in this space. I try to follow the new rule: If you buy one thing, throw another one out.

Whether this is achievable long term is another question, of course ;) But I shall keep you updated!