If it 'really' is junk, why don't I throw it away?

I have a gift... the gift of vision. The vision to be able to see the interconnectedness of life. To take one thing and mentally put it in another category and see how it could work. Unfortunately this also leads to 'analysis paralysis' since being able to see so many equally viable options leads me to a loss in choosing.

When applied to things around the house, it turns into not throwing things away... because they're usefull! "Don't throw that old t-shirt away, it could be a rag. Don't throw that old toothbrush away, you can srub something dirty with it!" Ah!

We have too much stuff!

As Sheila mentioned, this house has been in her family since her great-grandfather built it. There's also a saying about this house. It's the house where people come to die.

From the stories I've heard, Sissy, who was very devout almost went into the convent. She never married, but instead took care of aging relatives when it was their time to pass. While these relatives didn't bring their stuff to the house, everyone else who lived here did. They left and the stuff stayed. And now its our.

5 Boxes Every Weekend started out in another house with a collection problem. We went to visit my dad for the July 4th weekend. Dad has been a bit under the weather lately and he's getting ready to get out of our old house and get something smaller. But instead of a relaxing holiday, I ended up rescuing stuff from a burst pipe that was flooding 3+ stuff-filled rooms.

Amid the "What's that smell? Oh, that's the carpet. That's got to go!" and losing my old electric racecar track from the '70s, I began to think about the things in our present house. How were we going to go through it all? What are we going to do with it all when we move to a bigger house? I don't want to pay the huge expense of hiring someone to move 200+ boxes to a new house and then just throw most of it away. And I can't leave it behind if we sell or rent the place. Besides, there's usefull stuff down there!

So that's where 5 Boxes Every Weekend started. Not too many to be overwhelming... and not too few where it would take 20 years to go through.

If you're like us, we welcome you to join our journey and rid yourself of 5 Boxes Every Weekend and post your successes and emotions here. It's my assumption that the emotions are where we'll find the answers.