I am a pack rat. I don't think I am anywhere near hoarder status, but I keep a lot of unnecessary things, some cherished, some crap, in my home. I have all the letters and cards I've received since middle school, including Christmas cards. I have a box or two of my late grandmother's belongings, including something as seemingly mundane as a drawer from her jewelry box. I have a dress I bought at a vintage sale in college which has never fit me since. I have more winter coats, gloves, scarves, and hats than are necessary, even for living in Minnesota. I have two dish sets and could seat a dinner party for 30. I have movie tickets, bus passes, travel brochures, Hideki's first stuffed toy, 31 photo albums, drawers full of quilting fabrics, and files from a tutoring job I had 10 years ago.
I've worked on trimming my storage and my clutter piles, but the progress I've made has come from my commitment to limiting my purchasing more than my ability to get rid of things. Last year, I wrote about our attempts to cull our possessions. See, I don't like to create extra trash, so I'm always reluctant to throw things away that I might use, that I could sell at a yard sale, or that I could donate. But that all takes a lot of work and motivation.
So, I announce this here in writing, in hopes that I will follow through with sorting two things over the next two months: my clothing and my papers, filed and unfiled.
Clothes first.
I swear.