I believe that getting rid of clutter is an act of empowerment. Mercilessly discarding, for disposal or donation, that which is taking up your space needlessly allows you a measure of control in your world. A taking of the reins, if you will.

I’ve never liked knick-knacks, nor was I big on collecting things because collecting causes clutter. Not that I’ve never had any clutter, mind you, because of course there is clutter when there are kids because they do like collecting and they don’t mind clutter.

Funny story: as it turns out, kiddos continue not to mind their clutter even once they become young adult grown kiddos; preferring to keep their “collections” not in the space they reside in, opting instead for their items to remain stored within the safety of the family home and/or shed.

We have an opt-OUT date on that storage looming in the future. Sometime. I’m sure of it. Hopeful at the very least…

But as far as my own spaces go, I’m always open to getting rid of something else, especially if I am in less than stellar mood.

It’s as good as drinking coffee. Or beer. Provided you like coffee or beer. I happen to love both. And note that includes N/A beer if you’ve eliminated alcohol from your diet. Beer’s good either way.

In fact, it’s even better if you are drinking a coffee or beer while you are discarding or anything you enjoy to aid in the process. I recommend this especially if you are new to the discarding game and feel emotional attachment to things (clothing, cards, pictures, etc…) that you feel in some way tie you to the giver, making you feel a sense of betrayal by getting rid of them.

This is not betrayal in any way, shape or form my friend, so THROW IT OUT.

In fact, let me offer this cliché little nugget of wisdom: “when in doubt, throw it out.” I can almost guarantee that if it’s something you’re even considering ridding yourself of, you won’t miss it.

I will even be so bold as to whisper to you here that once it’s gone you will forget all about it. 

I swear. I swear it up and down.

If it’s difficult for you, just think of it this way: if your house was to burn down and it burned in the fire, would you even have remembered you had it? If not, THROW IT OUT.

Discarding can be liberating and exhilarating.

My sisters and I were often so glad to get rid of something, it became not even enough to simply throw it out when what we actually desired was to throw it in the driveway and set it on fire after driving over it a few times. One of my sisters actually did that. Possibly more than once.

I cannot stress enough how this separation from your things will free you. Cleared space=cleared mind. Even if your space is not completely cleared (what’s with everybody thinking we “need” furniture?) you’ve afforded yourself a little wiggle room.

Note that I understand the degree of difficulty in letting go when you’re first beginning.

20 years ago when I was a beginner myself, we were preparing to move from our very large house into a smaller house that in the beginning had no garage, so I had MUCH discarding to do. I’d had lots of room for storage in the big house so I hadn’t previously concerned myself with getting rid of things like every.single.picture.orpiece.ofwork.that.my.children.brought.home.or.created.for.me.

But now my back was up against the wall and I had no choice. Those 4 gigantic Rubbermaid containers of art were the first to go and the hardest. But did we need to keep ALL of them? Of course not! Those little buggers kept creating and we began a system of displaying their works on a special wall for a month. At the end of the month we would take a picture of their works before throwing them away to make room for more. (and the majority of that happened before we all had iphones, so it’d be a piece of cake now!)

Of course I kept the special things like the cards they make for me and ALWAYS anything that they’ve made that has their hand print in it. I’m a sucker for those and of course they always make me cry when I see how tiny their hands were.

Hold up Lisa- this is not a time for sentimentality. Stay on topic! you’re right, you’re right, I know you’re right…

After that, it became less and less difficult and I actually (who me?) got a little carried away with getting rid of our things. After selling the china cabinet, (which to this person who hates collecting, had become a big wood creature judging me harshly daily for not filling it) our king size bed and entire bedroom set (too big for the smaller rooms in our new house).

I was really enjoying the clean, minimalist look that the house had taken on before moving from it, and since I happen to be a person who likes sitting on the floor it occurred to me that we should also sell the living room furniture along with dining room table and chairs.

Hubby did not go along with this request.

In his defense I will admit that I have been known to get a little overzealous at times. 😁 Also, nobody besides me prefers sitting on the floor, so there’s that.

Perhaps if discarding truly is the new collecting, we will eventually be ushering in an age where instead of bringing something to someone’s house as a gift or polite gesture, we will instead go inside their home and remove one or two items in an effort to give them the true gift of helping to unclutter their space and hopefully, their mind.

And what the hey- if they’re a good friend, maybe we’ll even let them get in the car with us while we run it over a few times and then set it on fire.

After all, what friends are for?