Years ago I was watching some show where they toured celebrities homes and talked to the celebrity about all their nice stuff. The one I remember is the actress Jennifer Tilly (who I remember from Liar, Liar and as the voice of the Bride of Chucky, even though I never saw that movie). She is part Chinese and was showing some beautiful Chinese antiques she owned. But I remember her saying that she only had things in her home that she fit one of two criteria. 1. She needed them. 2. She loved them. And that has stuck with me.
I have a lot of clutter. An absolute shitload of knick knacks. I take after my folks I suppose. Their house is seriously knick knacked out. Years ago I quit buying them anything for Christmas other than candy because they didn't have any shelf space left for figurines. But I'm in the middle of a Phoenix cycle in life (see earlier post (My life as a phoenix). I'm not sure where the burning down ends and the rebuilding starts... it kind of feels overlapped, but I suppose hindsight will show me the whole thing with more clarity. But one of the parts of this cycle is me moving... officially tomorrow. All my furniture will be in my new place. All that will be left in my old place is the clutter and knick knackery to clean up.
And here is where I feel I have to inflict some pain to have a truly fresh start. I'm going to have to be a little harsh with what I keep. I certainly don't need boxes of crap that have been sitting in the back of my closet for 11 years. And how much in those boxes do I really love? I have to find a line between what I love and what I just really, really like. Does sentimental value equal love? I have an ugly old wooden cow clock that Mom and Dad built/painted for me when I was in college (I had a thing for cow spotted things which turned into a full blown "let's give her cow themed gifts" cycle for a few years). But it's ugly. I won't use it. But they made it for me... my amazing parents made it for me. So do I pay for storage space for this stuff? I don't know... it's a tough call. It's not like ridding myself of stuff diminishes my feelings. But sometimes finding items rekindles memories you'd forgotten.
So the next month should be a tough adventure... clearing out all the crap once I get the necessities in place. Fingers crossed I can stay strong and really give myself a clean break. :)
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