The loft has been cleaned out. So many times over the years when wondering what to do with something, the quick response has been to put it up in the loft, usually until we decided what to do with the thing…at that point the decision has actually been made, to do nothing, it’s now out of sight and out of mind! So for years sometimes, items gather dust and cobwebs.
Apart from being a grubby, awkward job, it was a bit of an emotional wrench to see Japanese school satchels, photo albums, toys….heaps of Sylvanian Family bits and bobs and our old camping gear.
Nevertheless, things were wiped down, sorted through and decisions made. Only three options now, rubbish, charity shop and the next home. I do not want to take much with me when I go, only what REALLY counts and that I use. Three boxes of blue and white porcelain jars, pots, plates, bowls and jugs collected over the years has been pared down to one small one and from that I will chose one or two bits to take. Everything else went to the charity shop.
It was liberating to know that they will no longer weigh me down. I often wonder why we feel the need to accumulate. For my part it was usually because I liked some things and to be fair, usually used them. There was also that thing that they had ‘value’ and were worth something. That’s a big myth, that we tend to believe. An item is only worth what someone will pay for it. Boot fairs are a good example. Folk might have parted with hard earned cash to buy the things now lying out on the table going for a song….and not only that, people will haggle to pay even less than you want!!
Anyway, if the blue and white pieces sell and make money for the charity shop, it will have been worth it. With winter looming and millions displaced and in camps around the world, they need all the help they can get.
Another thing, I will not beat myself up for having bought these things in the first place, but I will take from it the fact that we actually need very little to have a good life.
It would have been possible to list one or two things on e-bay or other sights, but I made the decision this time to let them go. A bit like removing a plaster, quickly.
So now there is nothing up in the loft, there is a his and hers pile in the conservatory but at least I can SEE the amount of stuff I have. It makes it seem more manageable.
Gulls and roses 