Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage. For 10 years I stored a baby dresser in my home as to save the memory of my baby. One morning I woke up extra early before work, I looked at it, and realized it served no purpose. I brought it outside to the bulky area pick up (that comes by once a week) location here in Los Angeles. It was time to let go. A dresser was not going to bring my baby back. Now the room feels so much better as I don't have a reminder each day of what could have been. Storing can be painful too.
A heartbreaking story - I wish nobody ever had to feel the pain of losing a child. My heart goes out to you. I’m happy to hear that you were able to recognize that the dresser was simply a symbol/thing and that you could let it go along with the painful memories. ❤️
I have the same tiny basement situation. I made a remark to my partner how he has a hobby in every corner and he hadn't actually realized that before. Fingers crossed he'll agree to at least let go of the camping equipment because we've never done that in our 17 years together and neither of us have any desire to do so. It's all "just in case" of emergency or something.
As a former pk teacher and storyteller your closing resonated so deeply. It is the story of our lives and our history which have the greatest impact on the lives around us. The things we treasure are tangible symbols of those stories. Our families may not treasure the things we do from our lives because their own memories are connected to something else. But knowing the stories of our families, the historical memories, etc. bring depth to our own lives. My mom, who has Alzheimer’s can look at her wedding day and have virtually no memory of it, but show her a picture of her grandmother holding an alarm clock and she becomes animated sharing the stories of how the clock fascinated her and leads into more tales of her grandmother. ❤
That is really incredible! You are right - our memories are tied to us! When going through my grandmother’s things - one of my sisters specifically asked for a cereal bowl. The one that my grandma would use to pour her Frosted Flakes in the mornings when she was staying there. To a lot of people that bowl would be worthless- but to her, it sparked those special memories ❤️
@@ArrowHillCottage Things are only worth saving when they are tied to people we love. As a gen x, I’m in that transition between generations that saved everything because you were expected to pass things along to the next generation, and now where everything is easily accessible and disposable. People used to stay in one place and life was slow, now they move often and live at an overwhelming speed. I think a tough area to navigate is that what is precious to me may not be precious to who comes after. Like your sister’s cereal bowl. Honor it by using and displaying it NOW
Crazy but I just today asked what I was going to do with my memorabilia and now I know to display my favorites. I don’t know why I never thought to do that.
Storage! You have brought up many aspects of it that I had not thought about. Even with my more minimal decorating style I enjoy using and displaying pieces from the past that have “stories”. I also believe in using or wearing the “good” stuff and not saving it for the day that may never come! Thanks for your content, always thoughtful and inspiring. Greetings from Winnipeg, Canada
THANK YOU! I needed another kick in the pants to get me motivated to declutter some more.💯 I was having trouble letting go some of the MANY items I brought home after my parents passed. I realize that I don't have memories attached to most of them. Those that have strong memories are on display already. 💡🤦♀
It’s a good reminder for us all (myself included). If those special things get packed away the odds of them being cared about by future generations is very low! Great job displaying the pieces that have sting memories attached! ❤️
Children's art can be made to be pages in a big book . . I will bet there are videos on book-making. Bind 'em up. It's fun for people to go through their childhood art later in life.
New subscriber😊 great video. I can’t believe how storage facilities have taken beautiful land & trees to store crap that people don’t remember what’s in there.
Just watching one episode of Hoarders gives me motivation to clean and declutter. Someone I know (a female) told me that she had 3 lawn mowers in her garage, 2 were broken. I asked her why she kept the 2 broken ones and she replied, "But what would go there in their place.?" I was pretty astonished and replied, "Space." She just stared at me. It occurred to me that it was like we were speaking two totally different languages and could just not relate to each other. Out of curiosity, is there anything special that you are keeping from your grandmother's house? (99 years old, wow!)
Wow! That’s really a different mindset that she has! From my grandmas house I will be getting a sweet secretary desk that my grandmas brother used for his art projects. He was killed in the war, and my grandma would often tell me about his artistic abilities and say that the way I drew/ created art reminded her of him. ❤️
I encourage you to check out the legacy list website. They have a list of a bunch of places where certain things can be donated. It’s really helpful! ❤️
My parents and my small family of five are both planning to move on the same property downsizing each house. I know I won't have a problem with downsizing. But I have a feeling my mom's gonna struggle. She loves her storage. She is very big on saving, just in case items.
I save ‘ just in case items’ in a small storage building. I have friends who use a room in their house. But, whatever the space selected, let the container tell you how much to save. It’s not fair to expect all of her preps to go, and besides, your family is likely to benefit from them in the chaos of the coming years.
Here’s the type of storage that I do not understand: my husband has a large cardboard box that he has had for the 37 years that we’ve been together, with a comic book collection in it. The books are nicely bagged in appropriate plastic and are in good shape. However, he never gets them out to even glance at them. He doesn’t plan to sell them either. He keeps them just to keep them. 🤷🏼♀️
Hmmmm…these types of things can be tricky because light and exposure to elements can actually damage them. They would require special UV protection to be on display to retain their value. Is he seeing them as a monetary investment? ❤️
@@ArrowHillCottage A monetary investment? 🤷🏼♀️ In his mind, perhaps, but in reality, I doubt it. I have suggested that perhaps he might like to look at them occasionally to enjoy them. 🙄 Let’s just say we have our differences regarding keepsakes. 😉
Ha ha! Yeah. That’s interesting. I guess at least comic books aren’t huge items…not like he has a collection of chain saws or motorcycles or something! ❤️
I think by now (age 56 lol), I have at least begun the whole display/story telling process. It’s toxic fam tho eh? I must employ “selective sharing.” Some folks really would mock it or despise it ya know. And I can’t have that. Others would try to steal it (The latest thing was “porch cat” gone missing-just a little thrifted ceramic cat porch decor thing but still it’s bothering me more than when anyone stole my wallet or whatever else like my food etc). But anyways. It got me thinking about just how curated my stuff is and I wonder if I’m really more attached to things than I should be. Front door opens to a large living room/dining room space with a little side nook space. That’s where I keep my quirky display curio with a lot of my more delicate trinkets. I use other things daily like my grandma’s drinking glasses. My aunt’s old chef’s knife and cloth scissors. Same for my interesting furniture that I refinished and now use. I put together a few themed/chronological photo albums. So I really now only have this one photo box with photos and other small trinkets that I keep in my bedroom closet. Some stuff got taken from me in difficult situations so even tho I would love to still have them, I don’t anymore. But of course I’m upset about my cat tho. lol. It irks me a lot tho BCUZ the greedy Neanderthals (who like to try and swipe my things) have NO IDEA the painstaking way in which I chose to keep only the most special things. So when someone winds up stealing it or breaking it or carelessly losing it, I’m often more upset than if they just took cash out of my wallet or whatever. So idk if that’s a downside to this life I chose or what. Perhaps just like in every other area tho. Yet one more valid reason to move out of here. I obviously don’t belong in such a place with these kinds of people. Grab anything for free or steal it. Appreciate nothing. Consume and abuse whatever they get their hands on. Rinse repeat like an unquenchable gluttonous bottomless pit of take, take, take and deny, deny, deny. But anyways. They seem to have no idea how hard it was to find such a unique little item and how long it took me to “hunt it down” and make sure it was so perfect for my space etc. This is what bothers me the most I guess. Lol. Sorry. I’m still a little raw about that porch cat. Ugh. So I hope I can hunt down my cat from the usual suspects and then I reckon I’ll have to put it with the rest of the important things. (Inside my space where I can lock it up away from the sticky fingers brigade). It got me thinking tho. Checking my porches. Making sure nothing “special” is out there for some easy grab for some who feel so entitled to my stuff. I also went online thinking ok. See who sells these decor things. I couldn’t find anything like it tho and got even more upset. Meh. Lol. I def still want a curated life but I also want it all kept safe from any potential pillaging. On a lighter note (sort of lol). There is a standing joke about my house which is kind of long and wide sort of spread out like a pancake. When people knock at the door I may not hear them if I’m on the other end. And then it can also be confusing which door they’re at and it might take a good minute or two to find them. Some have walked away before I could get to the door. I could yell and say coming and they won’t hear me either. 😅😅 (yes. Yet Another reason to downsize).
Oh man! That stinks to have someone steal your ‘porch cat’ - I certainly hope you are able to track it down! I had to laugh about your description of answering the door in your ‘pancake house’ lol. I think we have the opposite situation here. If Someone comes to our front door they can literally look inside and see basically the entire main floor. No hiding here! ❤️
@@ArrowHillCottage Aw thanks! I didn’t even realize how much I loved the thing. (Porch cat lol). I remember seeing it at the thrift store and instantly being like omg this is so perfect for me…like a no brainer. It was only like $2-3 or such lol. It was like a light terra cotta and it had this goofy little grin. (Thankfully I still have a picture of it on my phone in case I never find it). So to me it was like “happy cat.” Lol. Then I was like what does that say about me tho? I wonder if it was the case of not appreciating it enough (or not protecting it) until it was gone. But I guess this is just the typical stages of grief. And maybe I’ll get a second chance to do better by it. Just like the curio. I always enjoyed seeing it whenever I walked past it. Ha ha. Well at least I DO have a good excuse when I don’t want to answer the door for some certain ones. 😅😅 It’s crazy tho. We have a back sort of slim deck thing and so a few of the bedrooms also have a back glass door. Then a front door and a door for two porches on either side of the house. Our environment tho. Need a place for all the smokers and tokers so the house doesn’t turn into the stinky, smoky Scooby Doo van. Lol. So. Many. Doors. 😅😅
Excellent video. Talk about food for thought. I’d rather keep the special important things than have excess items to manage and stuff away. Live life and not spend your life working for things you don’t use want or need. The earth can’t withstand all the natural materials wasting away and tossed out because you might or might not need it someday. Leave a legacy of love with your special items so future generations have to ability to have their needs met in a cleaner, healthier environment for others to enjoy like you should have, could have. End of rant. Challenge accepted ? Truly hope so!
