“Decluttering” is such a popular buzz word that there are entire television episodes dedicated to the topic. After observing this in others, I realized it’s time to confess something—after all, that’s the first step to the cure, right?

I’m sentimental. As a result, I keep things, and those things cause clutter! I keep things not to hoarde them, but to remind me of special moments, feelings or memories. Maybe it’s the same thing, I don’t know. But I do it. And now it’s time to un-do it!

For example, I have a scarf with a stain and a rip in one corner. It is no longer wearable. (Removing the stain won’t make it wearable, so no need to send stain-remover advice!) It needs to go to the trash; however, a friend gave it to me as a going-away gift several years ago, and I would feel terrible throwing it away. 🙂

BUT: Since the goal is to declutter—to get rid of things that are robbing me of space and/or time—I am cutting off an unstained block from one corner, and using it as the “background” for a picture of my friend. I’ll frame it just outside the frayed edges, and it should look pretty cool!

Yes, the rest of it is going in the trash…today! It served its purpose.

The plan is for the rest of my “clutter” to be evaluated and either kept, donated (maybe sold) or tossed. It’s been a great few weeks of doing this, and I’ve scaled back on a lot of things that have outlived their original intent. Think: Country blue cross-stitched pig in a wooden hoop “frame.” I made it for my first apartment in 1984, so of course it has great sentimental value! I took a picture of it for my scrapbook, and it’s headed to Goodwill since it still looks great and I just can’t bear to toss it! Someone might benefit from finding it at a great price!

As for the box of old pens that don’t write but that I got from various businesses or tourist sites I was certain I just HAD to remember, well…those are now in the trash!

But what about the rest of my life? It’s one thing to declutter my surroundings, but it’s quite another to rid myself of the internal clutter. It’s easy to cling to memories—both good and bad—that created certain feelings within me. But they are robbing me of “mental space” and time that should be used for other things.

I find that while it’s easy to hold onto cherished memories, it’s just as easy to hold onto hurtful ones. They take my time and thoughts to places in the past where I either re-live the hurt or try to imagine it with a different outcome.

Yet, God is reminding me that those moments served their purpose. They each—good and bad—played a part in making me who I am today. So it’s time to let go of them! The apostle Paul did this in Philippians 3:13-14:

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

I’ll carefully and lovingly “frame” the cherished memories and be reminded of the goodness of God in granting them to me. The memories that came from learning difficult lessons will be donated to others I meet who may be walking that same path and in need of a listening ear or an understanding heart.

As for the rest—the ones that stir up anger, resentment or hurt—they will be discarded as they come to the surface. That way I can make room for the new lessons I am to learn and can move forward without hanging on to that which has already served its purpose.

Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a stuffed mauve goose from 1982 that’s calling my name!