Update #3 - The Challenge’s First Hurdle: Sentimentality and Stuff

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve taken up the 100 Thing Challenge.  I’m hopeful.  I think it might just be possible to reduce my personal stuff to 100 things, allowing for the few inconsistencies in the way I count.  It has taken me a few weeks of trying to reduce my personal belongings for me to identify some of the burdens of the 100 Thing Challenge.  The last few days I’ve been struggling with sentimentality.

I will tell you a little about myself.  I am not a pack rat.  I’m pretty much anti-pack rat.  It is very difficult for me to keep stuff around.  Even the stuff I should keep I often throw away, like the love-letters my wife (then girl friend) wrote to me in college.  I chucked them all back when I was stupid.  But what would I do now if I still had them?  Would I reduce them to make room on my list of 100 things?  Sentimentality is a pitfall for those interesting in living a life of simplicity.

Now the trouble caused by sentimentality is particularly acute for many of us living in the western world.  For generations the western world has prioritized stuff.  And it still does.  That means that our birthday and graduation and anniversary gifts are often things.  (When was the last time you gave someone you cared about a present that you could not wrap?)  And often the most valuable inheritance from a loved one is some thing.  We hand stuff down from generation-to-generation because it has “sentimental value.”  Stuff is often the catalyst for meaningful sentiment.

So I’m struggling a bit with sentimentality.  Where do I draw the line?  Do I keep the Father’s Day gifts my daughters give me for one, two, five years and then reduce?  I just remembered that out in the garage on my workbench is a small New Testament KJV Bible.  I never read it and rarely touch it.  It’s the Bible my grandfather carried with him when he fought in WWII.  And I’m pretty sure my father carried it with him in Vietnam.  Neither my grandfather nor my father talked much about their experiences in war.  And I was not in the military.  Honestly I’m not even sure why this Bible should be sentimental to me.  But it is.  And so I need to figure out what to do with it.

I’ll keep you informed.

Comments

[Nina Ruth]

and I thought you weren't the sentimental one...
:-D

Yeah, that's one thing I have the MAJOR problem with...like even a couple of truly hideous knicknacks given to me by older friends...I love THEM (the friends, not the knicknacks) so much, I cannot bear to part w/the ugly stuff or hideous pictures...
:-(

As for kids' artwork...some ideas are: laminate the really good stuff to use/reuse as placemats; consolidate into a scrabook; scan & store digitally...
????

[debbie]

good grief, I throw away more than I keep as well...but a bible carried by your grandfather and dad through two wars??? there should be no question that you keep that. I'm kind of stunned to see that you even wrote this as an option, but then, maybe you've already decided to keep it and we must stay tuned. :-)

[Sonja]

I don't have the same problem. Stuff is stuff and it's manufactured by some faceless company. I feel differently about homemade stuff that personal time and effort went it to for my benefit.

I guess I'm lucky-- being a minimalist by nature, I only have one item of any sentimental value that I feel is worth keeping and it's a ring my mother gave me. Everything else can burn.

[Jasi]

My grandfather built me a small hope chest. I give myself permission to keep anything of sentimental value in it in the attic.

I don't have a need for the chest, but I don't want to part with it willingly either. I think if sentimental (otherwise useless stuff) is kept within that allotted space, it's not too bad. When it gets full, I take it out and re-evaluate what should stay.

Maybe this would work for you, too. Just allowing a small space for things you hold dear. I would not be able to part with Mother's Day gifts or a bible like that.

[Naomi]

I've been decluttering since 1999 and still cannot deal with the sentimental items, so I know what you are going through. However, if you do decide to keep the Bible, by all means, take it in from the garage! It is being exposed to bugs, temperature extremes and dust. Best of luck!

[carolyn]

i think the bible is meaningful because it carries the history of their experiences with them. i would definitely keep that. but if you don't, what about a soldier you have a personal connection with? maybe it would mean something to them to carry it around now and add another (horrible) war to the list that bible has seen?

[Brendan]

One method that's helped me declutter when it comes to sentimental things is taking digital photos of the item. Take a bunch of pictures of the item and then chuck it! It works great for larger items. Things like cards or letters I save together in one small box that I keep semi-accessible.