Decluttering 5: My personal journey to declutter excess stuff

 Hey all,

In decluttering 4, I mentioned I would do this post so here it is!

I've always not been the best with money. I'm like a crow or magpie with shiny things. I like to collect things. Not in a hoarder way, but I like to collect things. However, I realized I don't need to buy some of the things I buy. To curb this, I am reading books I bought (and I bought them at work with my work discount...I work at a thrift store) as well as comics and I will donate them back to work and try to rely more on the library where things are free to borrow. The library has extended the amount of time you can have something overdue before you start paying, so I sometimes have extra time for stuff if I don't read it the first renewal. A lot of books you get up to three renewals already so the library has been generous with this extension. 

I realize I have a lot of things. I have quite a few books and not all of them will be forever books in the end. I am only decluttering books I have bought myself. Comics are available at the library as well. This decluttering is part of a healing process as I believe I spend as a form of retail therapy. There are ways to be happy that do not involve spending money and the library makes me happy. 

Last night I read quite a few comics. When I get some of these books read I will have freed up space like on my bookshelves. I will be able to store and display some of my collectables and/or dolls. There's a lot of things that have happened in my life that have caused sadness. I have lost a lot of people I love. I'm getting back into art so I can heal and art is happy. Art is good for mental health. Sometimes I run away from my feelings rather than dealing with them. I'm an emotional person. Sometimes I push things to the back burner and then it snowballs to me needing a pill change.

I'm not trying to get rid of everything, just prioritizing what I can keep and what can leave. I know what's a keep and what's a declutter as I read them. I've read more comics and only some are keeps based on how I feel when I read the comics. It's the same with books.

That's what I am doing with my decluttering journey. I'm not trying to just own 5 things. I just want to pare down a few things that I bought and donate them as I use them. This is mostly books and comics. I'm sure I'll have other things to donate someday but it is books and comics right now and will be for a long time. I'm trying to get my values in line so I am not so impulsive.

curlyalicia