Ask the organiser 2 – sentimental organising
Here’s our next question in the ask the organiser series.
This is actually so much fun. I should do it more often 
I lost my husband 2 years ago, and I still have a lot of his things in the house that I am finding difficult to clear.
My burning question is – how do I let go of these things that are no longer of use to me? They all hold memories in one way or another (a jumper that he wore, the electric razor I bought him for his birthday, etc etc), so how do I donate/throw them away? I know they are but inanimate objects, but just the idea of putting them in a bin bag or box distresses me. Can you help?
Mags
Mags, first, my heart goes out to you. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.
Personally I think the approach I’d use with you is three-fold:
1) We tend to think that by hanging onto things, we’ll remember our loved ones. That’s not true. Acknowledge that you won’t forget your husband if you let go of some of his things. Let that sit for a bit (a few days, a week, etc) and when you’re ready, move onto the next step.
2) Check in with yourself. Do you want to let go of some of his things? Are you ready?
3) If yes, taking pictures is a wonderful way to honour the memories without holding onto all the stuff.
This was used to honour this lady’s kids’ babyhood. The idea can be used for anything. I wish I’d done something similar with my ballet or Spanish clothes before I got rid of them.
Source: littleandbunny.blogspot.com via Marcia on Pinterest
You don’t have to print and display the pics if you don’t want but I think it’s a really nice way to really honour your memories.
What do you think, dear readers?
What would your advice be to Mags?
This is such a cool idea actually. I saw something similar on one of those tv shows that deal with decluttering. And they asked her to take loads of pictures and even said she could keep about 10 items but only put them in 2 frames and everything else she could get rid of gradually when she felt up to it, but had to commit to getting rid of it eventually.
That’s a lovely way of photographing a group of random objects.
Jo recently posted..Sentimental clutter and memorabilia – Part 3 – the final round up!