The liberty of having space

When moving into a larger space it is liberating to have so much space.  I always dream of the things I could buy and how to decorate the space so that it would look nice and appealing so that I would want to spend more time there.

However, with great space comes great consumption. 

I realised I had accumulated a lot of items.  I was "pre-buying" aka taking advantage of sales periods. But often I will find a new place to put it and forget about it and buy even more.  I didn't really have the heart to throw things out.  One could consider it hoarder mentality, but oftentimes I feel like it was a waste to throw items away, and that I would someday find a use for it. I would sometimes feel sentimental on an item which was just due to the fact that it was under my ownership - silly, I know.

Recently, my family and I did a massive clean up.  But this was not just any clean up - it was a clean up of a lot of my childhood belongings - from pens, report cards, notes, comics, magazines, clothes and toys. Some of the toys were even unopened.  Dated wool jackets were going into the donation pile.  As we were about to throw them out, a quick search on eBay found that we were sitting on unsuspecting cash as these items were valuable to others.  So I hope that it finds a better life somewhere else and we can realise some money for it and reclaim some space.  The sad part of it was some of the items which were bought on sale and not used could no longer be used, such as shoes which had disintegrated or the rubber was no longer soft.

Of course, I kept those gifts which were irreplaceable.  I even found my first even Nintendo Entertainment System - with receipt and all.  

It was immensely satisfying to see the clutter disappear and to see more space but the pang of nostalgia as I let all those things go.  

What I realised was that within all that clutter, by discarding all the things which were less important, I was able to clear the way to truly treasure and focus on all the things which I value.

For now, I wait for the next sales...