{Hoarding}

 

My husband and I have moved three times in the last seven years. We were given a hard time at our first house by our new neighbors because of the amount of "stuff" we were unpacking into our two bedroom cape cod home. We had both packed up all the important memories with us from our parent's homes which was a collection from high school, childhood, and college....and wedding presents too.

When Aaron and I decided to move out of our neighborhood after a few short years, we loaded up not only our childhood, high school, and college items, but also all of our new homeowner  belongings. From rakes to lawnmowers, cleaning supplies to car maintance items, we left our cape cod with even more belongings. Whew, it was exhuasting to move! 

Today, my husband and I had a grand idea to clean out our basement for about the fourth time in four years.  The scattered boxes of college books and boxes filled with trinkets from childhood were all still there. I told my husband today that we have to be hoarders. Let me tell you this, I like to hold on to childhood memories but today I finally got rid of a dough shaped Ohio that I made when I was in third grade. Aaron, he is the collector of engineering books along with anything mechanical. Do you know how hard it was moving box after box of books to three homes? You can ask our familly members! So after seven years of being married we finally decided it's time to get rid of them. Why is that?

After pondering that question all day, I came to realize as we have gotten older that what is deemed as "important" to us has changed over time. With every trip down to the basement to clean up, I have chosen to part with what used to be important to me. Now, we are trying to decide where to stash loads of baby clothes instead of wondering where to put a random box of CD's and old journals.

I have a feeling five years from now, I will be sifting through more boxes and wondering why I ever kept boxes of this or that. I really think what we keep depends on where we are in our life. Do you have memories you're holding on to that are ones to be kept close to your heart and not in a box on a shelf? As much fun as it is to go through old things, I have to say the clean out we did today felt amazing. In a way these boxed up memories that were scattered all over the basement were keeping me from being a better version of me. I now have a space that is clutter free where I can retreat and work out on these cold winter days. Getting rid of things allows for me to make room for a healthy and happy me....are you holding on to physical memories that are keeping you from moving on emotionally or are keeping you from being a better you? 

As moms, we need to take care of ourselves. Including the emotional side of us. Keep aware of how you are doing. Check in and make sure you are taking care of all of our needs. Because, as we all know, we can only be our best for our families if we take care of ourselves-physically and emotionally. 

I hope you all have had a sweet Valentines Day with your family and friends!