My father is sorting items in his huge houses, 2 of them, to sell, give away or dump as a hopefully previous step to downsizing, which took me to think about how much stuff of my childhood sits there wasting space, stuff I could try to sell or give away, because after my parents die I don’t plan to move back there: I’ve made my life elsewhere and down there there are no decent jobs.
The items: A huge collection of 300 or so music CDs and 50 vinyl records I bought between ages 15 and 25 of my favorite bands back then. I don’t believe I’d get even 2 bucks a piece, not even for the vinyls (no special editions), my library with 250 or so books I bought and received as presents during my childhood, including a complete encyclopedia, clothes that are already too small for my physique.
I moved out 10 years ago and I’ve rarely visited. Those items are more something I remember than something I need: I digitized the music library years ago, the books I like I can get online or I already have them, I could save some clothes that fit and toss the rest, I could also use my old bed and study table, because those things are actually useful. I don’t even have a CD or a vinyl player (my father does).
I know that stuff is only stuff and when I die, it will all remain here on earth and most probably be sold or destroyed, but I I just can’t bring myself to throw them away, even though I know it’s the logical choice as a previous step to sell that old house.
Moving the stuff in with me makes me a hoarder, so no. Plus I don’t have that much space. And what would I move the stuff in with me for? It would sit there in boxes wasting space.
What worked for you?
I recently had to clear out my room in my childhood home and found all the schoolwork I ever produced until I left for college. I went through it, and ended up tossing everything except school photos as well as a couple of big written assignments I still remember doing.
So I guess my advice is to just stack-rank it and only keep a few particularly sentimental items.