I am a serious pack rat. Should I keep old papers, binders, school stuff? Should I clean my room out?

Question

My room is full of binders, papers,boxes,stuffed animals. Should I get rid of all that??

What if I miss my things and want them back. Did I do it for a good cause. Will I hate my self forever?

Answer 1

keep only the things that may hold a special place in you heart for memories, get rid of all the rest, donate clean stuffed animals. getting rid of clutter can actually help stress a little

Answer 2

I'm 62 and have downsized my life often. I am also a "packrat" collector, and have many things that when I reflect on them, know I don't strictly need them to carry on with life.

Certainly we all have icons, and many, of meaning at various depths. Perhaps the most important thing anyone can do is keep those most "special" "Things" to pass on, or unwrap some years down the road in recollections.

My most important savings are of things my kids grew up with that involved ME, but they may not always feel the same. I'll keep a couple of them anyway, like fave story books or a stuffed animal, but give what I have to the children to decide.

Perhaps a picture of an item? Or a journal entry of something special, will be memory enough.

Old school papers, etc, won't make much difference in adulthood, other than that "Best behaved today" paper award you got in pre school, but even that is old news,,,no offense.

We collect because of what it meant, but we evolve and find new,,,,, to collect. That doesn't suggest we dismiss the other, it just says we have all of that archived anyway, in our memory, and can keep it as long as it offers us what we got from it initially.

Here is an example: Otherwise.

My daughter, even as a baby fell in love with "Annie" the movie. She had to be consoled with an ANNIE doll. and I still have it 20 years after, tattered and used, boxed and safe for another day.
The funny thing is, when that doll wore out I repaired her but bought a newer version. My daughter never took to the new one. yet it still remains in her old room, along with hundreds of others that may or may not, someday, be something she will pick through.

Keep many things in your heart. It has unlimited space. Shed, in any way you deem suitable, those things you no longer have space for otherwise.

By the way, no matter anything else, Thank you for this question, and the memories recalled.

Hugs,
Rev. Steven

Answer 3

Get a plastic shoe box or sweater box. Keep whatever is special to you but only what fits in that box. I kept a few short stories I wrote, a diary I kept when I was 14, when I was older I found some examples of my printing in my Mother's basement from kindergarden and first grade, those were fun finds and I look at my memories every ten years or so.

I made my son a memory box, a few examples of his school work each year, his class pictures, his teddy bear from his infancy, his boy scout awards ... Someday I hope he enjoys looking at this old stuff.

Stuffed animals you can give away to little kids or donate to your church carnival or rummage sale. Papers will eventually get yellowed and possibly buggy so just keep a few examples of your work.

Since you have a computer, you could just scan your school work and save it on CD for posterity instead of keeping the paper.

Answer 4

donate the clean stuffed animals to a charity! And get rid of that stuff unless you want to become one of those people on the news who cant walk through there own houses due to garbage and clutter! You will only become more of a pack rat!

Answer 5

There's a trick to it: If you haven't used it in about a year or two, and it isn't expensive or irreplacable, throw it out or give it away. Trust me, you'll like the free space more than the stuff that was there.

If you start to miss your stuff, just remember that it can all be replaced if you ever need it and that you didn't need it for a long time before you rid yourself of it.

Answer 6

If you haven't used it in the past year, get rid of it. You will feel more organized and certainly will have an easier time cleaning.

Answer 7

some of your stuff will never be relevant to anything in your future
you could set a target, say 20% reduction, then get into it.
at least you can stack the remainder more tidily

Answer 8

If they are still usable, start donating them to charity. Else, if you think its not valuable and you havent use them for a year, then throw them out.

Answer 9

only when you need the room and mom says you have too