I participated in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge. In summary the challenge is to get rid of (donate or pitch) 40 bags of stuff from your house. That's a lot of stuff! You can use any size bag, I went for the 13 gallon with ForceFlex (gotta have the force flex) garbage bags. The first few days went great and fast. I went through each room, closet, and cabinet meticulously. When the first three days yielded seven bags, I thought that this was going to be a breeze and there would be no way that it would take me 40 days to complete the challenge. However, the last 10 bags went very slow and I finally closed bag number 40 on the 40th day.
I thought this was a lesson about letting go of stuff. Decluttering my house and my life. But the value (literally and figuratively) of what I found has been greater than what I have let go of in the past 40 days.
When I started and the bags began to pile up my husband asked me, "Are you preparing for something that you are not telling me about?" He was being funny but it did feel like I was preparing for something. Leaving room, opening space for the wonderful things to come this year. Getting rid of things that I have held on to for years for no real reason at all. Letting go of the fear.
This challenge came with lot of the realizations and struggles that you could probably guess that I had.
Get rid of or keep? A majority of the time I opted for "get rid of".
But it wasn't that easy. Here is one example; my husband and I made belly casts with each pregnancy. I had the whole conversation in my head: It was fun to make.. we hung them in the kids rooms when they were babies... do I really see the kids wanting to hang it up in their house when they have a family? NO! Why keep it in a box so they could keep it in a box? So I put it in the get rid of pile.
My husband saw it and gasped....he asked me if I was feeling okay. I explained that I didn't think we should keep them and that I was okay with that. He said that maybe I should give myself time to think about it some more.
They are back in a box in the basement but I'm not convinced that they should be there.
I donated bags of clothes that didn't fit me or the kids any longer. I realized that I have bought way too many cute photo albums that I have never used. I am no longer allowing myself to purchase photo albums no matter how cute. Some toys are now making other kids happy. Lots of papers, I need to toss papers as soon as they come in the front door. I could go on and on about the things I got rid of but the story that I really want to share is what I found.
A box of passionate love letters from when my husband and I were dating. Some of the letters were from when he was stationed in Iraq during our first year of marriage. Before texting, social media and email - these are handwritten treasures.
Speaking of treasures I found my wedding dress.... After moving so many times my dress wasn't in the box labeled wedding dress so I wasn't sure what had happened to it. When I found it and showed it to my daughter she concernedly asked; "You are not getting rid of this, are you?" No and it probably shouldn't be crumpled up in a box in the basement.
Side note: I don't remember being this small on my wedding day. My conclusion is that even though I've never washed it, it shrunk.
I found money! Yes, money! I found a letter that stated that I had a check that was never cashed. The check was for work I did while going to school. The money was sent to an unclaimed property fund at the State of Illinois. I had to fill out some paper work because my last name had since changed in order to claim it.
The check arrived on Monday.
The last treasure I want to share is this book below.
Before putting it in the get rid of pile I opened it. I read the note my sister wrote when she gave it to me dated 3-13-98. It in part reads:
"Angel, I'm anxiously waiting for the day that I can buy one of your books."
It was a full circle moment for me because I have started writing a lot this year. I have just found a dream that I had forgotten about. A dream that was waiting to be found again. Thank you sister for reminding me after all these years. I now have the book on my desk when I write.
"I've noticed that sometimes when we aren't actively searching for something, what we seek, finds us." D Webb
That sums up my 40 day challenge I wasn't looking for anything I was trying to declutter my life. In doing so I found so much more. I love how life constantly whispers to us.
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