Learn

Have Too Much Stuff?

Make a Change Today By
Changing the Way you Think

image By Professional Organizer Lea Schneider

In the back of the closet, a neat stack of gift boxes were uncovered. Their treasures were hidden the soft folds of white tissue paper.

There were warm flannel nightgowns for cold Ozark mountain winters. There were toasty fluffy slippers and warm soft-as-lambs sweaters. A pretty tablecloth or two for setting a nice table and other presents that someone knew were just right for Grandma.

With seven children and numerous grandchildren, the search and hunt for just the right item that might make the day bright was always intense. Everyone wanted to find just the gift that might make this special person’s day brighter or warmer or easier.

Not too many of the gifts were enjoyed beyond the moment of opening. So very many of them were lovingly replaced in the box and put back in the closet for a special day or for when a new pair of pajamas were really needed.

It’s too late to convince Grandma that we really wanted her to wear those toasty pajamas or bundle up that beautiful sweater we bought. We can’t get her to set the table with the new tablecloth, just to brighten the day for her and Grandpa.

Grandma passed away and the boxes were found in her closet by the family.

She waited too long for just the right moment or just the special day, saving those gifts for GOOD.

You know GOOD. Those are my GOOD dishes. That is my GOOD tablecloth. Those are my GOOD shoes. That means they only come out for company, which is not at all the same as family.

My family isn’t alone in this tradition of saving things for GOOD. When I work with clients, I find similar things. I’ll find a pretty purse in a box and they will tell me it was an expensive gift and they are saving it for GOOD. I’ll find new clothes, with tags, in the back of the closet or folded in a drawer. There will be crystal vases still nestled in their Styrofoam packing.

Sometimes the things aren’t new. They are items passed along by loved ones. There will be boxes of china from Aunt Minnie and tea pots from Aunt Evelyn, none of which every come out of the box or back closet.

This is a great time to evaluate what you own and how you use it or don’t use it.December is the Season of Giving, so I sometimes refer to January as the Season of Too Much Stuff. That season can carry over all year long.

What do you do about all that stuff?

As a professional organizer, who helps people make good decisions about their stuff, I want you to consider a new plan. I’d like to see everyone use their stuff. No more waiting for that right moment that may not come!

Here’s how to get started:

Honor your giver. When you use an item that was given to you, you are honoring the giver. Imagine if you place the item back in the box and into the closet, to save it for later. Has this in any way honored the giver? Will they feel you loved their gift because you thought it so special that you put it away for GOOD? Or, would they be excited and feel honored to know that you put it on often and think of them and it has become a favorite thing to wear?

Think of gifts as replacements. Don’t try to find room for one more vase or candy dish or sweatshirt. Think of that new item as a replacement. Instead of squeezing in one more item, choose an old one or one you don’t love and take that old one away.

Remember, giving isn’t wasting. If you were raised as I was, you didn’t waste anything. Use it up. Wear it out. Most likely is how Grandma came to have all her gifts in the closet. She was waiting and waiting for something to wear plum out before allowing herself to wear a new one.

But, if you were raised, as I was, to have a giving heart, then you were raised to do for others. Find a way to mesh that giving heart with that never waste anything mentality. Know that if you give something to someone who needs it, then it is not wasted.

So, put on that sweater. Wear that robe. Cuddle in that down comforter. Put flowers in that cut-glass vase you inherited and put it on the kitchen table where you can look at it.

Then give someone who needs it your older sweater and older robe. Donate an old blanket to the homeless shelter. Give a florist-shop vase that really hasn’t any meaning to you, to a charity thrift store. Do for others.

Know you are special now. You don’t need to wait for a special holiday or occasion to use the things you love. The person, who left you their treasures, did not do so in order for you to put them in a box or back closet. They did so because they thought that the items might bring you joy. Stop waiting for that company or special occasion. Get them out and use them now. Or, consider that you don’t ever see yourself using them, and then share them with another family member that will love them.

I don’t know who said it, but someone once said life is what is happening while you are waiting for life to happen. It is so true. That special day, to wear those new clothes and enjoy those holiday gifts, is now.