June Minimalist Challenge #10 SO MANY THINGS

Such a big weekend of purging. It was very emotional and I was actually sort of upset all weekend. I have been thinking deeply.... deeply. One thing I have always said it "People are more important than things." BUT also that  "taking good care of our things is a way of showing gratitude for what we have." The family photos are somehow fraught with meaning, but I haven't discovered yet what exactly that meaning IS for me.

My friend Ruthie/Jen who helped me with earlier purging came and took boxes of art and craft supplies. She can keep what she wants and then will donate the rest to the Boys and Girls Club. I went through several notebooks and pulled out pages of daily lists and food logs. Some of the notebooks have enough pages to still be useful and they are being assembled for the next donation batch. K came and took the big shelves! There is no going back now. I have decided I want to achieve the closet half empty so that as a guest room it will have some usable storage space. The closet is completely full, so I still have LOTS of purging to do. I got rid of most Halloween items and parts of costumes. (I'm not sure if I posted those pics).... I pulled out an entire tote of gift wrap. I am starting to think about Christmas, what do I really want. I hate to get rid of all of the homemade ornaments, but Emily doesn't want them, and Britt basically lives in a truck. Maybe those will also be photographed and then donated? I don't know. I don't know if I will continue counting items or not. I joked with K that now there are COUNTLESS items, so I need to start counting from the end - Day 30 and 29 and 28 are finished.

Part of me is embarrassed at how much useless crap I found. Part of me is still happy to have the letters and postcards and assorted ephemera....

An orange I had painted MANY years ago

My SAT scores

Soso and ensemble and other orchestra medals

I think this is my costume hat from "Funny Girl"

This was from when I was about 10, a note inside said I received it in a school gift echange

My Seminary certificates (Mormon High School religious education program)

Set of toy keys that had been a favorite for Britt

My sixth grade report card

From Emily

From my niece Tomiko

This is going out to the dumpster tonight

The view looking into the room

The view looking out from the desk chair. 

Another empty box

I think this was day 15

Day 16 THE ENTIRE TOTE of gift wrap