Yes. The possessions I own represent what has come before, what defines me and my happiness. I have reduced and continue to do so seasonally but when I look around and smile, it's because my "things" made me smile and reminisce. Losing a husband... I've lost enough
My daughter died when she was 4, almost 12 years ago. I have her photos around my home. I have her memory box: first piece of clothing, christening shawl, one pair of shoes, a birthday candle, two pieces of clothing that were unwashed at the time of her passing. It still has her smell. These bring me comfort on the days where sorrow is overwhelming - birthdays and anniversaries. I have my mother's brass deer and pottery my sister made in high school. They are both deceased but something of their presence lives on in my home.
Thank you Connie for this video 🙏 I have certain personal items from when I was married to the love of my life. There are many I no longer have. There are a few that the thought of letting them go actually gets my heart pounding and I feel like I can't breathe. Talk about attachment and not letting go. By letting these personal things go, the reality of us no longer being together is even.....more official, if that makes sense. I know after a short time I will feel fine; however it's the initial action that scares me. Fear. Sadness. When I hold these things in my hands, I cry. I do not feel joy. When I feel ready, I go on a splurge and purge things. I am hoping I will feel the same way with these items. I am still tethered to a relationship that has not existed for 15 months. 😢 Time to wake up Roberta 🙏
Awareness is the first step. I don’t know you but I have shared your thoughts and feeling and I am proud of you for taking the first step of observation and awareness.
Roberta, you are being incredibly hard on yourself! Allow yourself time to grieve. 15 months is nothing! It took me a few years (everyone is different), but I got rid of stuff from my old marriage in stages. It was cathartic to burn some things. I did it in a way that both honoured the past relationship and the person I was becoming. I did it with love and when the time was right. Honour yourself, allow yourself time. Be gentle with yourself. ❤
@@andeeanko7079 Thank you for your words Andee. I am still incredibly sad. Doing what I can to help myself..... however it is difficult. I appreciate you reaching out. 🙏
I love your life philosophy and your new life in Costa Rica. At the moment I’m stuck in a life that’s giving many challenges, just surviving and not truly living! Your videos give me hope. I do appreciate the good things in my life now and I hope that I’ll have time left for some more adventures as well. ❤️
This video came at a time for when I have been making some big decisions in my life. I appreciate everything that you said in your video and am going to really do some soul searching. Thank you for this wonderful video.
Is that your home? Or are you still traveling and living out of a suitcase? I am in the process of walking away from the sale of a home with only a suitcase and backpack via Swedish Death Cleaning. So far it has been a fascinating experience. BUT I have not drilled down to the final part of the exercise. We'll see how well I do. I'm sure I will have a couple of boxes of choice items that I will implore one of my daughters to keep for me.
I am doing the same thing, I am meeting with a lady who does estate sales Monday to see what she thinks I should do with furniture etc. I have had 3 garage sales this year so far and taken plenty to The ARC for donations. Now I need to get really serious regarding clothes, handbags (my favorite) personal items and the photos and cards I kept over the years. It's hard to whittle down when it comes to these things for some reason, but I know I can do it. Good luck to you and happy travels!
Great question. Yes, I'm still traveling and living out of my suitcase. The home in this video is the temporary house we are staying in. Lucky for me rental homes have plenty of stuff, that I can use as examples. 😊 Swedish death cleaning is a wonderful technique for decluttering. You've got this!
I think the key take away here for me is the willingness to let go of emotional attachment to things. There are some things that I choose to keep a memory alive, such as some of my photos or special gifts. We are human just doing life at our own pace.
Considering I was a hoarder that came from a family of hoarders, I've made huge progress over the years! Atm I'm finding letting go of my previous home (after a marriage breakup) difficult. I no longer have a permanent home, nor most of the possessions in it. I now only have a room's worth of stuff (rather than a whole house) and I'm ok with that, which is a positive! Can you do a video on how to cope with that (not being attached to our physical home)? Ps I took photos of photos too & will take photos of stuff too, that's a great idea ❤🙏
Did your children take the glass jars? It’s easy to give away our treasured items to our kid or others we know would want them. I’m interested in how you actually got rid of items you loved, but no one wanted. Were there things you loved that you just through in the trash? Personal treasures that you couldn’t give to a second hand store. Seeing important things actually put in a trash bag would be helpful and give “permission” to get rid of the things, you just don’t know how to get rid of. I enjoy watching your journey on living minimally but I’m definitely hitting some huge hurdles!
Objects and photos do trigger memories.l can give the story behind an item: who, when, where, why. I treasure sentimental gifts from family and friends. Everyday l think of them, even those who have passed away. They tell your history without words. A handful of possessions are valuable to me. I could easily replace my sofa, dining table, lamps, clothing, laptop, TV. But not my mother's brass deer, my wall tapestry from New Orleans, my necklace with my children's initials or my grandmother's rosary beads.
@@mariastathopoulos744I've just lost the most important person to me. I'm having to choose what to keep and I know I'm keeping far too much, I just don't have enough space. How did you decide what to keep and what to let go?
That's not how Alzheimers works. If someone wants to let go of items but also keep some memories from them, then you can accomplish that by taking pictures of the items.
Thank you connie for your video I’ve been following you now for a year or so and you’ve helped me a lot I appreciate all you share I’ve decluttered a lot this year including a lot of photos I feel I need to move on to a new level starting with my health diet and exercise please can you point me in the best direction to start this many thanks I’m grateful 🍂🪴🌻
