Saturday, March 7, 2009

What does your stuff say about you?

Yesterday, my sister-in-law and I had a huge garage sale. Tons of stuff was spread out on my front driveway: clothes, picture frames, home furnishings, more clothes, kitchenware and more clothes. We let a lot of stuff go for $1, $2, even 25 cents. Our mission: Get rid of it!

Most of my contributions to this garage sale were clothes. Tons of it. Bags upon bags were unfolded. My clothes: buy-bye. So many Banana Republic shirts, pants, and skirts. Nordstrom tops and sweaters. Shoes from Nordy's. All stuff. All stuff that isn't part of my life for the moment. I like the saying "we are what we surround ourselves with." Its true. So much of my closet used be stuffed to the brim with nice clothes. Really nice clothes. But its just not me right now. And stuff, is something I don't like to hang on to. When I enter the workforce again, I will definitely help the American economy with my share of a new wardrobe. For now its last years Citizens and this years Target Tee.

It was a bit heart wrenching to let go of baby clothes. Itty bitty 0-3 months sleepers and pajamas. Adorable 3-6 months onesie outfits. Navy stripes. Baby collared shirts. Embroidered monkeys and crocodiles. I loved em. I loved my boys in them. Last week I asked Mr. Dunbar "Should I get rid of ALL of Bogie's baby clothes?" His response "How loaded is that question?" Again, we are what we surround ourselves with. Am I going to be trapped in my longing for another baby, saving bins of clothes, clogging up my garage for a baby that may never come? Or am I willing to let things be the way they are and just get rid of it, the stuff?

My solution: Compromise.

I kept one bins worth of baby clothes. Not the 22 that I had saved from Monkey for my Bogie. We are what we surround ourselves with. Is another baby part of my future? I don't know. Maybe not. Probably not. But if so, that little guy will know that his mom thought he should share in some of his big brothers' things.

I was glad to see my SIL take a bunch of clothes home for her little guy. I will get great pleasure in seeing those clothes on him. My G-Man nephew is worth so much more than a quarter here and a quarter there.


So do you keep anything and what does that say about you?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good :) And it is true, I don't have trouble getting rid of stuff, it is getting the time & motivation to get rid of it!

Anonymous said...

I tried to convince Brad to have a garage sale a couple months ago because closets were busting at the seams. I was ready to lose it (shocker) and wanted to get rid of all the "baby stuff."
He refused. You know what he was thinking! Instead, he put everything in the attic. I tried.
Kim

Anonymous said...

I have become a purging queen in the past few years. I have a bin on our porch right now and when friends drop by they have to go take something from the bin if they like it!

Heather of the EO said...

I'm the tosser in our house. My husband would LOVE to keep everything "just in case." I love to purge!

The only things I keep around if I'm not using them are true keep-sakes, things that I'll always remember and be touched by.

jen@odbt said...

I'm a keeper, my husband tosses. I look at all my scrapbooking stuff (mostly paper etc) and how I now do things. I just need to let it go. I've gotten better about giving away but probably could do better.

Anonymous said...

Great post! Like you, I definitely like to get rid of things. Haven't let go of the baby clothes yet... still hoping to have one more! :) But, that being said, I should probably get rid of some of MY clothes that I will never fit back into after having all these babies!

Lisa said...

I'm in the process of being a reformed saver. I like to hold on to things just in case or because at one point they did mean something to me, but I don't like having to store them, clean them, move them, etc. It is so freeing to TOSS.

No more babies? Well, you do have two great boys.

I'm feeling great, thanks. Sometimes I end the day feeling pregnant, but most days are still good. I know how fast it goes and what a gift it is, so I enjoy it as much as possible.