Dejunk, scale down, downsize, reduce. The pressure started when I turned 60 and has amped up 5 years later as I consider moving. Now I get to deal with all the stuff I have saved in case it would come in handy Someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My quest has led me to realize that most of those things saved for Someday are useless to me because, at this point, I can admit Someday is never coming. Helped along by my more realistic view of what I want to do with the last years of my life. For example: The bird houses I thought would be wonderful to create are not going to get built. That frees up 5 years of materials saved for their construction. I\u2019m not going to fix the quilt Gramma made because I detest sewing. I will keep the quilt, in its frayed state, but can certainly pare down the sewing materials to the most basic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I work at aging consciously, I am better equipped to decide what I want, and what I don\u2019t want. It\u2019s time to decrease the Someday things, and the stress they can create, to make it easier to focus on what really matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what to do with so many precious things? Through the process of sorting when I come upon something I think is too precious to give away I ask my kids if it\u2019s something they would treasure. Or put to good use rather than put on a shelf. The guilt that comes with some of the Someday items then gets passed along with the items and is very freeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some things though, like my journals, baby blanket, and once adored stuffed toys, are meaningful only to me. I find many previously loved things no longer have meaning or purpose, and my challenge now is to work at disposing them honourably. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some things I do still love, like the heart shaped table my deceased husband refinished, and took immense pride in owning, makes me smile. Another gate-leg table that was a gift to my parents on their wedding day has possible potential in a new home. These things I keep for me now, not Someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fewer possessions mean less time spent on cleaning, organizing, and maintaining things. Knowing donated items may be treasures to others, or a tax receipt for me, makes it easier to get rid of things like my Mom\u2019s bookcase that requires a lot of dusting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My downsizing begins in earnest as I contemplate moving. It may not be a much smaller home, but it will be a new chapter in my life, in a new location and a step into my aging that means focusing on what really matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By embracing the process of downsizing, I\u2019m making space\u2014physically, emotionally, and financially\u2014for the next chapter of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dejunk, scale down, downsize, reduce. The pressure started when I turned 60 and has amped up 5 years later as I consider moving. Now I get to deal with all the stuff I have saved in case it would come in handy Someday. My quest has led me to realize that most of those things[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newfutures.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}