Tuesday, April 7, 2015

When is Enough, Enough?

Last year, I started on a minimalist journey. I made a promise to myself to rid my home of all the excess stuff that served no purpose yet occupying valuable real estate in my home. Yet no matter how much I have donated,sold, given away or recycled, I feel as though I still have a ways to go on this journey.

Excess stuff overwhelms me. I have even pulled back on my Do-It-Yourself projects because it encourages the acquisition of even more stuff. My garage was bursting at the seams and it got to the point where I ran out of space to work. I decided to get real about what I was going to actually complete and use.

Now it's time to cull the bookshelves again. Both my husband and I love books so it's not an easy thing to do. However, it needed to be done and I will be donating these to a local charity thrift store.


 
To avoid this process in the future, I will give ebooks another try and/or use the library a little more often.

Almost done sorting through my children's school and artwork as well. OMG! I saved way too much! I have to say my Neat Scanner made it so much easier to part with some of this excessive sentimental paper in favor of digital copies.

 

And then there are the photos. Oh the photos. Although in chronological order in photos boxes, they're just too many. When is enough, enough? First, I started tossing the duplicate sets, blurry and overexposed shots. Again, a digital solution is where I'm headed. I plan to have the negatives digitally converted; however, I wanted to have the camcorder tapes done first. I can't wait for my Legacy Box to arrive in the mail.

So when is enough, enough? It's going to be different for everyone, of course. For me, however, it's when that overwhelming feeling starts crowding my everyday joy. That's when enough is enough for me and when it's time to act. I refuse to allow excess stuff to steal my thunder. How about you? When is enough, enough?