There’s something natural about the way people hold onto sentimental items from their past.
A child’s toy. A handwritten card. The trophy from the winning game. Souvenirs from concerts attended or trips taken. Boxes of items once owned by our parents, grandparents, or other loved ones.
For many of us, these things aren’t just household items like extra Tupperware in the kitchen cabinet that can be decluttered when a lid goes missing. They represent the people we love, the experiences we’ve cherished, or the accomplishments we worked hard to achieve.
For that reason, the attachment is emotional. That’s why we refer to it as sentimental. And it can be one of the most difficult categories of items to minimize.
But over time, those meaningful items start to add up if we don’t declutter them. Isn’t that true? Closets fill. Boxes pile up in the attic, basement, and garage. Pieces of furniture begin to collect. Sometimes we even need to rent a storage unit down the street to keep all the sentimental belongings we’re holding onto.
Our spaces become a museum of the past. And slowly, without even realizing it, unless we choose to take intentional action, the stuff we love begins to keep us from the stuff we love.
Here’s what I mean by that:
The stuff we keep—no matter how lovingly—brings burden and weight onto our lives. Every possession does. They take up space. They need to be stored, organized, cleaned, protected, and worried about. They add time, expense, stress, and mental weight to our lives. Every item we choose to keep takes up physical space in our home and mental space in our mind.
The excess can begin to keep us from peace, calm, freedom, space, and intentionality. As a result, the sentimental items we accumulate can begin to keep us from being fully alive and present in our daily life. They begin to pull our energy from the very life and opportunities we would choose to remember.
We’ve held onto the toys and clothes from when our kids were young. But when the basement is so full of stuff we are constantly thinking about needing to clean it out—we are distracted from the people right in front of us today.
We purchased and kept souvenirs so that we’d never forget the trips that we’ve taken. But when the house is so full of clutter the cleaning and organizing is never done—we become too busy to take new trips today.
We hung all the trophies and certificates we earned through our accomplishments in the past. But when our walls and offices are so full of relics from our achievements in the past—we forget to dream about new goals in the future.
We couldn’t find the strength to declutter the personal possessions of a spouse who passed too early because we loved them so much. But when their things keep us from moving forward into our next season of life—we often miss out on the joy that they would have wanted us to experience.
It’s not that we love too much. It’s just that the items we keep to remember the things we love might actually end up keeping us from discovering and enjoying more of those people and adventures in the future.
The stuff we love begins to keep us from the stuff we love.
It is important to remember that we don’t love the physical objects. We love the people they represent, the experiences they remind us of, and the accomplishments they signify. This might be fine—unless our physical possessions begin to keep us from loving more people, having more experiences, and achieving more accomplishments.
So take a second look at the sentimental clutter you are holding on to. And if it is distracting you from living your best life in this current season of your life, then it is time for action.
Releasing sentimental objects isn’t about thinking less of your past. It’s about honoring your past by living fully in the present. You’re not being forced to decide what memories to keep, you are creating space for more experiences worth remembering in the future.
Are you ready to get started? If so, here is my advice on How to Handle Sentimental Clutter.
