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Post by creativechaos on Feb 17, 2010 16:21:38 GMT -5
lostagain, everything i wrote below is moot, since it's after the fact. congratulations for putting it curbside and letting people choose whether to give it new life somewhere else. at any rate, you let it go so a big WTG and congratulations! i still cry too when i let go of some stuff.lostagain, i understand your dilemma. i disagree with the tossers, except when there is so much trash, clutter, and stuff that amnesty makes sense and keeps a person sane and safe. if i were in a deadline situation (moving, eviction threat) i'd be more likely to toss and give myself amnesty. not having a car would definitely have a bearing on my choices, but i didn't drive til i was 47 years old and had plenty of chances to give stuff or donate it, and found plenty of ways to acquire it too! it really didn't slow me down much to not drive!  for me, at this juncture in my dehoarding life, donating is the main option i choose. 'reduce, re-use, recycle' is the code i live by, and that works for me. reducing what i acquire gives me the ability to make this choice now. since tossing IS so uncomfortable to me, i have motivation to stop acquiring so much and do my part toward living my values by generating less trash. do you live on a street where you can put a 'free' sign at curbside? that might embarrass some people, but i live in low income housing and i have had much success with making freeboxes. i put freeboxes outside at the curb near my apt. building. lots of people walk, bicycle, and drive by there. there are many families here even poorer than myself. they take my stuff, and i can feel good about it getting used and not filling the landfill. this is what works for ME. at the end of the day i put what's left (usually small items) in the dumpster. i have the luxury of having a dumpter to use at our apt. complex, but i try to give as much as possible first, since 40 of us have to share two small dumpsters and we only have trash pickup twice a week. i find the freebox the easiest way to get the stuff out of my life. many charities and churches pick up a lot of days per week, and plan their routes to maximize fuel efficiency. a bag or two of stuff in good condition can make a lot of difference to someone homeless or otherwise disadvantaged. nowadays, clothing is being sent to places all over the world by various organizations; to haiti, afghanastan, iraq, etc. after a disaster or in war time, people need the basics. we have organizations here on a small island that gather basic stuff and help people, so i'm sure in a larger population area there will be many options to have your stuff picked up, hassle-free, if you should choose donation. we even sent a bunch of bicycles down to central america one year. we also have an eyeglass drive which is highly successful. people take their old glasses to our eye doctor and he and the Lions do the rest. do what your heart tells you is right for you and pick the least stressful option for yourself. if it relieves you to toss, by all means toss. if it stresses you out to toss, then donate in a way that makes sense for you and frees your worries. whatever you do will be right for you at this time. hugs, cc
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Post by creativechaos on Feb 17, 2010 16:24:39 GMT -5
i used to run a used store. the donations we got, at least sixty percent, were unusable by us. we threw out SO MUCH STUFF. some of it was stained, some broken, some missing parts, and after a while, you can only find so much rack space for a zillion clotehs that are forty years out of date and look it. i really think throwing out things is fine. it is more likely than you realze that the agency you donate to, or whoever they funnel thorugh, will wind up doing someting similar at some point anyway. i thinkit is more painful to throw out as it brings up the idea that an object should probably have not been saved that long anyway. so by donating it, it still keeps the (sometimes) delusion tha the object is worthwhile. i think it's okay to admit, hey, i kept this way past it's useful lifespan and just chuck it. it is freeing in a freaky way you can't know until you do it. good luck.  thanks for this, geranium. i needed to read this, especially after just writing the post above. lots for me to think about in determining what is useful and worthwhile. being a hoarder, i have trouble discerning this, but your reasoning is bang-on and you really helped me and probably others. hugs, cc |
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Post by Rory on Feb 18, 2010 10:03:16 GMT -5
Sadly the files spent all night in the cold and this morning they were not removed by the recycling people. So I have put them in the rubbish bin for collection tomorrow.
How sad! Actually I don't care I just want my space and my life.
Rory
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Post by gifted on Feb 18, 2010 11:29:01 GMT -5
I missed the post where you said that you took care of it.
Good Job!
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Post by Rory on Feb 19, 2010 2:48:11 GMT -5
It's Friday morning and the rubbish men have come and the files have gone.
Gosh that was difficult.
Rory
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Post by gifted on Feb 19, 2010 3:17:10 GMT -5
Rory,
You got through it! You did not rescue the files, and clutter up your home. It is hard to build new habits. I am proud of you for tossing the files, and also proud that you can admit that it was hard.
YAY RORY!
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Post by oneofthesedays on Feb 19, 2010 17:03:40 GMT -5
Here's some more amnesty I hope can help: You are granted amnesty from feeling guilty that (insert organization here) drove out to pick up only (insert number) bag(s) of stuff from you!! Whatever it takes, whatever is comfortable for you, you have amnesty. Guilt be gone!! |
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Post by oneofthesedays on Feb 19, 2010 17:05:49 GMT -5
I should probably ammend that to Guilt and Stuff be gone!  |
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Mare
New Member
Joined: August 2013
Posts: 23 
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Post by Mare on Aug 22, 2013 18:22:54 GMT -5
This is the the SOS Fairy Godmother, waving her Magic Wand of Amnesty over Lost:   (It may look like a feather duster, but what else would the SOS Wand of Amnesty look like?) As the Magic (and non-dirtying) Amnesty Dust falls gently and absolvingly over our un-lost Lost, the SOS Fairy Godmother invokes these words: "Unto Thee is Amnesty granted, to throw any object, "perfectly good" or otherwise, into the garbage. If, and only if, thou wisheth it; thou mayest place said object at the curb, with or without an attached sign bearing the magic word "Free," whereupon it may magically disappear. Be thou wary of the Evil Minons of Clutter, who may whisper to thee and seek to induce thee to take said object back into thy home; but know that amnesty is increased each time an object is returned to the Discard Pile. Go now ye forth, my dear un-lost Lost, to declutter and cleanse, with all Blessings of Amnesty upon thee." Thus has it been said, and thus is it now written. Priceless! |
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