Marilyn Bohn | Creative Organizer

If you want to have a good laugh while being taught something I recommend watching Veggie Tales. The ‘actors’ are all vegetables. An episode I watched was ‘Madam Blueberry’. Madam Blueberry was blue and she didn’t know why. She had friends, a nice home and lovely things. She just didn’t know why she was blue.

Then one day she saw outside her window from her home (which was in a tree) a Stuff Mart being built. She didn’t know what it was but soon three veggies from Stuff Mart came and convinced her through clever songs that she was blue because she didn’t have enough stuff. Her friends tried to convince her that wasn’t the reason she was sad, but she wouldn’t listen to them.

She went to Stuff Mart and bought all this stuff until her home (which is a tree house) couldn’t hold it all and it went catapulting off into the trees. Then she realized having more stuff didn’t make her happy.

In many cases it is our stuff that is making us unhappy. Do we have too many nick knacks, magazines, books, collections; things we no longer treasure or have a use for? Does it no longer mean anything to us or bring us happiness or does it take too much time to keep organized and dusted?
If you said yes to these questions then it is time to reassess our stuff and ask ourselves:

•What price are we paying for hanging on to it?
•Is it worth the price?
•Is it time to let go?
•Can I donate things to make others happy?
•Can I organize differently to keep my stuff but enjoy it more?

Deciding what to keep and what to let go of is an individual decision. Often it is less painful and helpful if we have a friend help us or a professional organizer who is experienced and objective in the decision making process.

Have you gotten rid of stuff? How did you feel while you were doing it and after you did it? What is your advice for getting rid of stuff?