As you know (if you have read along weekly), we have been renovating our home.

At the conclusion of any reno or rearranging of things in your home, comes the time to organize belongings into their new ‘place’.  I love this part as I envision everything looking tidy and put together.  But then the reality sets in that I seem to have far too much ‘stuff.’

We had lived in a small 1000 square feet home so the problem had always been not enough places to properly put belongings away.  But now as we have expanded, the emotion is mixed between ambitious purging so we have an always-tidy-home – and sentiment of wanting to keep and hold on to the memories these ‘things’ represent.

I am very sentimental, extremely so, that it is even difficult to help the boys purge and declutter their things.  They are now young boys who have left babyhood and toddlerhood behind.

I can happily report, we made huge progress on this front over the last couple of weeks.  I am learning that the memories and stories are far more important than the thing that represents them.  I have found that illustrations have really helped me here.  I can create illustrations or stories for the times that mean the most.  I don’t need to hoard belongings.  I would rather live in a tidy home as I have always felt that physical clutter halts creativity since tidy surroundings provide peace of mind.

The things that I am keeping for now and know I will struggle to get rid of are things like the boys art work that they proudly presented to me.  When Jordan was a little pup, he picked out a gift for me of a Barbie doll because he figured girls loved barbies – I think he was about 3.  The reason he picked it out, his intention to make me happy and how proud he was of his gift mean more than the gift itself, that fills my heart so much.  So the Barbie, I will keep, and perhaps immortalize in an illustration one day.

How sentimental are you?

Xo

Devon