By Joanne Byrne
Retired and Rejuvenated
Joanne Byrne.
Call it spring cleaning, decluttering, or downsizing – it’s all the same process for simplifying our lives.
As we move through the years, we tend to accumulate baggage in the form of possessions, and at some point, we become burdened down with all these things. What better time than now to start lightening the load?
As I said in my last column, you should ask yourself three questions: Do I use it? Do I need it? Do I love it? If the answer is no, then get rid of it.
Clutter can be obvious or not-so-obvious, but when it is gone, you feel better right away.
Start with the junk drawer in the kitchen. We all have one. It’s full of odds and ends that we don’t quite know what to do with, such as batteries, paper clips, rubber bands, buttons, old keys, ketchup packets, coupons and receipts. Dump the drawer out, select only what you absolutely need, and throw the rest out. Put things you are keeping in small containers, plastic bags or trays.
Now you can move to the closet. Many of us have three sets of clothes: those that fit, our “skinny” clothes, and our “fat” clothes. You may also have things you bought on sale but that don’t go with anything else, those that are now out of style or things that look better on the hanger than on you.
Start by discarding anything you haven’t worn for the past year. If you are not sure, move them to another closet, out of the way and see if you miss them. Get rid of the skinny and fat clothes. Don’t set yourself up for frustration or for weight gain.
Keeping control of books is an ongoing process. If you love books, it is hard to get rid of them. However, when the bookshelves are overflowing, it is time to do some purging. We all have some books for show, some we have read and loved, some we want to read, reference books, and perhaps some college textbooks. Get rid of the college books to start. It is not likely you will read the same books again, so donate those you have read to the library or a second-hand bookstore – or give them to friends.
What to do with that lifetime of photos? Don’t waste your time putting them into albums unless this is your hobby. Photo boxes hold many more photos, so you could begin by sorting through photos by subject, date, events or whatever you choose. I did this a few years ago when I was recovering from minor surgery and couldn’t do much of anything else. I made a box for each family member and tossed hundreds of meaningless photos into the garbage. It was exhilarating.
Family heirlooms are a special type of life’s baggage. We are often the recipients of items that have been handed down from generation to generation. Some things we love and some we don’t even like. Some are valuable and some are not. We feel obligated to keep them and pass them along to the next generation. When our relatives bought these items, they chose them because they liked them or needed them and were not thinking that you would want to have them as family heirlooms. You are not obligated to keep them unless you want to. You are allowed to sell them or give them away.
Once you start pruning your possessions, you will feel a sense of freedom. Your living space will also look much better.
Joanne Byrne served as Senior Services Coordinator for the Town of Orange. She is now actively and happily retired. Email her at joannebyrne41@gmail.com to share your thoughts on retirement.