Taking the Keep Out of Keepsakes...

Yesterday was a day for boldness. We boldly went where we had not gone before. With great courage and fortitude we took the path less travelled and descended into the depths of our basement. Ok, that is not exactly true…we have gone down to our basement before, but never to spend any quality time. Let me tell you about the basement. When we moved into our house we began the work of settling in, as any new homeowner would. After the main floor was lovingly and painstakingly arranged, and everything was where it needed to be, we banished everything else to the basement. Everything that was left over - every unopened box, everything labled "sort", every article that had no home was piled neatly in the basement. It was neatly piled that is, until the day I needed to find a few things, and the aforementioned neat pile became a tornado-like replica of scattered debris and paraphernalia. That was about when we stopped going downstairs. We couldn’t face the horror.

So yesterday we decided to take some action. We worked ourselves up. We got ourselves motivated. We put our courage to the sticking place (that is a line from Beauty and the Beast that I never quite understood, but thought that it was fitting today). We tackled the job. GO TEAM J!!!! And you should see the basement now. It is just a vision of beauty.

OK – actually we just moved all the junk into the spare bedroom and closed the door.

WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!!!!! It’s a sickness people. I just don’t know what to do with it all!!!! What do you get when one pack rat marries another? An INFESTATION !!! It is not pretty. And WHY do we need to keep EVERYTHING?! Do I really think that I am going to have room for every little nic nac that I have owned since 1979? Does Harv really plan on looking at all his old school materials? Do we need to keep every book that we have ever read? Do we REALLY need 18 different kinds of leather polish? And let’s face it…with clothing…if it ever fits again, do I REALLY want to look like I am straight out of high school? I need my friend Amy to come and do a clean sweep. She is a marvel. I just have a hard time letting go!! What if I regret getting rid of it? What if I need it again sometime?

This gets me to thinking…why is it SO HARD to let go? I am not just talking about my basement now. Why is it so hard to let go in life? I am a pack rat in my own life. I find it so hard to let go of bad habits and wrong thinking, even though it clutters up “my basement”. I feel like so often I am stubbing my toe on the same issues - on boxes and junk that are scattered all over in my life, and I hate the mess, but I can’t seem to let go. Old hurts, false views of God, critical thinking, bad habits – they all clutter up what could be free, beautiful space in my life. And why don’t I let go? Am I afraid that someday I am going to need it again? Do I want to hold on to that painful memory – just in case I need to use it for a wall hanging down the road? Wouldn’t it be like those old clothes – once you move on from them you don’t want to wear them anymore (and sometimes you even think…what was I thinking to believe that this EVER looked good?!?!!)?

Letting go of old junk gives freedom – freedom to have space in my home to decorate, and use as I please. Letting go of personal baggage gives freedom as well. It gives freedom to occupy space (myself) with things that can be used by God and others to make life more beautiful. I think that my new junk room is not the only thing that is on the docket for a clean sweep. But one more question...why is it always easier to throw out Harv’s stuff rather than my own? Hmmmm.