Spring Cleaning in January — Why Not?

We have started "Spring Cleaning" early, this year!

I suppose it is not as much actual cleaning, is it is the process of going through all our things, especially those stuffed at the backs of closets, or sitting in boxes in the attic.

What We HAVE, But Do Not USE

It actually started when we were putting away the decorations after Christmas, and we realized "how much stuff" was in the Christmas boxes that never gets used, and even never gets unpacked.

So we actually took the time to go through all the boxes, and a surprising amount ended up either being thrown away, or some given to our kids... and some taken to the local charity second-hand store.

I suppose it might be an aspect of human nature to "save" things, with the intention of using them some day. It's not exactly hoarding, but it is a tendency to end up with a lot of stuff you don't actually use.

Most people tend to "accumulate" during their younger years, and then enter a phase of "downsizing" during their later years. Maybe Mrs. Denmarkguy and I aren't exactly in our later years yet, but we do have a lot of things, and we do have intentions of moving to a much smaller place within about 5-7 years from now.

Of course, a considerable part of our "excess" is the result of things added as our respective parents passed away.

It's not easy, at the time when you have just suffered a loss, so there's a tendency to just take a bunch of boxes "that might be important" and decide that you will "wait till later" to go through them and sort things out.

One thing that is for certain is that our current house is fairly large because it was originally kept with the intention that kids and grandkids would spend a lot of time here, visiting.

Alas, that reality has never really come to pass... but the different reality is that we (a) have a lot of storage space and (b) because we have a lot of storage space, it's easy to stow away a lot of stuff without really noticing how much it is!

So part of our ambitions for 2023 is to get a lot of stuff gone through and disposed of — whether that is sale, donation, thrown away, or whatever.

Treasures in the Attic?

You never really know what you're going to find... nor what you might have that was "common" 50 years ago but has since then become sought after and "collectible."

I doubt we have any great treasures in all our stuff, but I'm hopeful that we might be able to sell enough things on eBay that it will materially contribute to our planned holiday back to my native Denmark, in the summer of 2024. That would be nice!

In the meantime, there's just a lot of sorting to be done!

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Do you have any "excess" stuff in your life? Things that perhaps sit in closets or your attic, but don't get used? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2023.01.19 00:29 PST
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