Pack rat coming through

You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
— Steven Wright

I was at a meeting yesterday and was talking with a fellow industry member and learned that she does a lot of organizing. We were discussing some of the clients she has and learned about one client she has who has things everywhere. She mentioned that when it is time to clear the clutter, the client is hesitant to throw things away.

I subscribe to a couple of newsletters related to organizing to help me with my business and to learn new information. I have picked up several tips over the years to help me with decluttering my own home. I just wish I could implement them at my mother's house. She has things she holds onto with the idea that she might need it in the future, whenever that is.

My husband and I were cleaning out our garage and I took a good look at some things we had and decided that if I hadn't been asking for it for a while that we would get rid of it. We ended up dumping a lot of things and I felt no shame or regrets in doing so. I actually felt lighter because I didn't have this heap of things hanging over my shoulder.

I have seen news reports over the years where the police have had a hard time rescuing people from their homes or retrieving them once they were found dead because there was so much stuff in the house that they couldn't get to them so easily. I guess they were creative in the ways they came up with to find space for all of the items that they brought into their homes, but I couldn't live in a home where I couldn't see out the windows or move around so easily because things were everywhere or I couldn't invite people over because there was no room for them.

When you die, you can't take everything with you, so why build up your treasures now to the point of overflowing?