COLUMN: The art of letting go

Every year, when spring comes around, my family hosts an annual garage sale to clear away the clutter that has inevitably grown throughout the year.

I am still surprised when I head in to our garage to inspect the possible items to go, and find boxes upon boxes that need the old “heave-ho.”

Although I have to admit, I am quite a pack rat. I tend to be the person who will keep various containers, papers, sentimental items and myriad meaningless household things I no longer use or really want – but keep “just in case.”

I know I am like this and clutter tends to follow me, despite my years of desperately trying to de-clutter my life. Each year, I prepare myself for the debate with my husband on items that I feel I may possibly need – and items he knows are just simply taking up space.

My husband has tried to be the strong one, and after 11 years of marriage has found a way to both address my fears of letting something go, while still providing the voice of reason I need to hear.

This year, some of the things I had to part with included my grandfather’s metal detector that had moved with us three times. I had kept it for sentimental reasons, despite the fact it was 25 years old and had not been used by me since he passed away 16 years ago. Then there was my Marilyn Monroe poster, which had not come out of its wrapping – ever. I fully intended to have it on my wall when I was in my early 20s, but it never saw the light of day.

There were numerous toys that had not been played with by my children for a couple (or possibly three) years. And many clothes that hadn’t been worn or had been outgrown by my children – including unused baby items that I kept on the off-chance I found someone else who may need them.

Then there was the framed drawing of a horse my husband and I bought together at Ikea when we first got married. I had kept it for the perfect spot in our new home – when we moved in five years ago. There was also an old frame I kept for that “special painting” that would suit it. I guess we just never found the right one for it.

We also had many paint cans that were kept in the event we needed a touch-up on the walls in our home (even though the colour in the paint cans no longer matched the colour we have on the walls today).

It’s really amazing what things we keep and the reasons behind keeping them. But in the end, we let it all go.

This year, my husband offered to oversee the garage sale while I watched the children inside the house. I knew why he offered – he wanted to save me any further distress of watching these items be sold.

So on a sunny Saturday last week, we had dozens of people come and go throughout the morning. I peeked out occasionally and even braved a quick visit outside from time to time just to see how things were going. A part of me wanted to take it all back inside with me – but I knew deep down I had to stick with our decision. After it was all over, my husband gave the rest of our unsold items to charity.

That night over dinner, he noticed my sadness about some of the items that had been sold.

“We made some good money today, you should be happy,” he said with a sympathetic smile. And then he added, “Your grandfather’s metal detector went to a good home – an older man purchased it and was really excited to use it.”

And for the first time that day, I felt a huge weight had been lifted.

The old adage “one person’s junk is another person’s treasure” is most certainly true – but in this case it’s nice to know that my treasures can also be someone else’s as well.

Kelley Scarsbrook is a stay-at-home mom who writes bi-weekly for Black Press. You can visit her websites at http://www.thestayathomemother.com and http://www.enterprisingmomsnetwork.com