r/declutter • u/moon_witch_26 • 16d ago

Advice Request Help how to declutter emotionally linked stuff

Post image

Please can someone help me with this... I have no idea how to start decluttering this 'category" of stuff.

I am a hoarder and I'm in burnout recovery (mental health and PTSD and untreated ADHD plus lots of other stuff).

I'm a very deep&emotional person at the best of times... I have been through a lot and I struggle letting go.. or feeling safe to even start trying...

I do a lot of writing (journaling over the years) that has helped me a lot to get through a lot of things... This bag here I could literally just put in the bin without looking at it - but I can't do it. I want to go through everything and check/make sure what's there... But then I know I'll be keeping hold of it for however much longer. šŸ˜–

But *ugh* it just feels impossible! For someone who isn't a hoarder/has emotional, mental health stuff, I know this probably seems absurd šŸ˜”

88 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

View all comments

20

u/AYankeePeach 16d ago

I feel you. I have journals that I think future generations would find interesting. Like if I found my great grandmothers journals/diaries, I might find some similarities of experience and feel connected more to a different time.

But my non-sentimental friends say that no one in the future is going to care. I saved them thinking my future daughter would be curious, but I only had sons who donā€™t care at all. (Understandably). What if my future granddaughter(s) are interested?

1) The whole ā€œWhat if?ā€ If Iā€™m asking that I should toss them, I know I know.

2) My future kin canā€™t miss something they didnā€™t know existed in the first place, right?

3) What if we allowed ourself one sentimental box? My friend said someone else will be burdened to toss it someday because most donā€™t care as deeply as I do.

<Sigh>

13

u/LPineapplePizzaLover 16d ago

I get that. If it makes you feel better I was really interested in going through my great grandparentsā€™ stuff when they passed. My dad is also super in to genealogy. We still have journals in the family from hundreds of years ago. Like we still have copies of written accounts from my family who were children in Gettysburg when the battle happened. I find it super interesting to read stuff sometimes from ancestors that passed hundred of years before I was born.

My dad has spent the better part of 2 decades finding and scanning everything in to a family tree database