I had ordered these bags that you hook up to your vaccum and they shrink everything down to a small size. I wanted to give them a try with all the large blankets and pillows I washed last weekend. After that I just couldn't stop. I found this box that was all taped up and I had no clue what was inside of it. Once the tape was off, I had to roll my eyes and say, "What was I thinking putting all this stuff in a box and not sorting out way back when?".
I have to say this whole minimalization process hasn't been the easiest on the emotions. A couple of weeks ago when I first started the throwing out of boxed I came across a box with all the letters that my ex-husband had ever written me. I will admit I still haven't done anything with these. I shuved them away in a trunk and will deal with them later. I guess I just wasn't strong enough on that day to get rid of them. Over the last couple of years whenever I find something of his I have been destroying/throwing out/donating it/ just plain getting rid of it. This is what I have had to do to remain saine. He was lucky in the fact that he got to walk away and start fresh without any memories, he left everything with me.
Today, in that box all taped up, I found his old tin box. The one he use to keep anything and everything that meant anything to him since he was a boy. In there was every note I had written him while we were in highschool. I stared down at it and wondered what do I do with this? Stupidly I called him and left a message on his machine. He actually called me back. I told him and he remembered the tin I was talking about and said he was sorry that I was dealing with all this and finding all these memories during my spring cleaning but that he had to go because he can't walk in uniform while talking on the phone. He is very good at making sure there isn't much time for us to talk when he calls.
After taking down the two bags of garbage I compiled (one from everyday use and one from the spare room of crap I have collected over the years), the recycle-able plastics and the again boxes/ paper recycle-ables I have collected over the years, I text messaged him and asked, " What do I do with them now?"
I continued to clean for a little while and after about 30 minutes of no response I realized, he really doesn't care, I really don't care and shouldn't care. Neither of us have seen those notes since before we were in the Army. I went for the healthiest answer I could come up with.....
I shredded them!!! And the tin, it goes into the donation bin that gets dropped off tomorrow. I have another Ikea bag plus some random items in my trunk that wouldn't fit in the bag that need to be dropped off tomorrow. I tell you I am getting really good at this.
I know that I am not finished yet, but here is just a glimpse of the progress. This is just one of the closets. It use to be crammed packed full of stuff. Now I don't have near enough stuff to ever dream of filling it. Oh and I haven't even touched the other two cabnets yet. If you look at the bottem of the picture you can see the schrinking bag thing. Believe it or not, that thing has a king size comforter, a queen size comforter, three normal blankets, 2 pillows and couple of randoms in there. I KNOW!!!! And it is shrunk down to ittty bitty.
As I have said before, I still have a ways to go. But that spare room is getting more and more empty and the cabnets are not getting full, so that is a good sign. I think this is going to be a very good new beginning for me.
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