This week in the Cure we're dealing with media: books, cd's, dvd's and magazines. While we're clearing it out, paring it down and organizing it in a way that works and makes sense (like being able to find what we're looking for) keep in mind some of the reasons why it can be hard to let things go:
Here are the main offenders when it comes to hanging on to things:
• No Clear Vision: We don't have a clear vision of what our homes and lives could look like without all this stuff everywhere. Without that vision we just want to hang onto things. Look at Benita's organized shelves. How good would you feel it that's what you were able to come home to?
• Just in case we might need it later. This keeps us tiesd to the past and doesn't leave room for the new. Take note of what you actually use now. Those things should stay, the rest should get a closer look.
• Identity: Often we hang onto things that remind us of who we were or who we wish we were. Obviously it's not our goal to throw everything out, but to be thoughtful about what we're keeping. A friend of ours is currently going through old journals and is open to letting go of as many as she can. We're inspired by her willingness to let these things go in favor of making room for what's to come. She'll be the same person whether she hangs on to the journals or not. But she'll have more space if she lets them go.
• Status: Are you living the way you want to or the way you think you ought too? Is one eye out on how everyone else is doing it? We at apartment therapy have been trumpeting that Small is Cool, but it's certainly not the main stream opinion. Are you happy with your stuff, or has it become a burden?
• Safety: Especially in times of financial stress (or emotional stress) we want to nest and make ourselves comfortable. That might mean bringing more stuff home, picking up that chair we found on the alley that we could totally refinish (except that it will take us months to get to it) and generally building clutter back up so that we feel that we have 'enough'. But remember having less can often mean having more.
• We've inherited the habit and the stuff: Maybe you're never lived clutter free, or maybe you just inherited a bunch of stuff that you can't find the time to wade through. Don't be afraid to ask for help, and remember that babysteps do add up to a huge change. Start with your biggest clutter spot and make some progress, you'll be shocked at how much better you feel.
For more on the subject, we highly recommend checking out other resources like the book Clearing Your Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. It changed our lives and got passed around to all our friends a couple of years ago.
Related:
Urbanic Tips for Staying Ahead of Clutter
10 Organizing Tips from Chez Larsson
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sprout Side Table
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
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I found the energy and courage to let go of things after my son moved out, leaving lots of his stuff behind in addition to everything I was hoarding. I started 20 years worth of putting bags and boxes of things I knew I wasn't going to use or that I no longer needed or wanted into the garage. Next Id used my local Freecycle website to advertise and give away tons of things to people who really wanted them and needed them so it made it a lot easier to part with my old stuff. I gave away everything I couldn't find homes for on Freecycle to the Salvation Army and I am still amazed at how much easier it is to keep things clean with all that excess stuff gone. I've even managed to clear out some of my old vinyl records which can be recycled, just keeping the ones I haven't already replaced with CD's or those that have special memories.
I am so loving THE CURE... and the whole reason for hanging onto things because we don't have a clear vision is so true - just discovered this whole idea...
I just spent se7en weeks doing a huge tisket/tasket clear out and I think with this whole vision idea I need to go round the block (of stuff) another time - and purge a whole lot more...
thank you this is brilliant, inspiring and encouraging.
http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/10/28/a-tisket-a-tasket-maintenance
I'm currently halfway through a spring clean purge, and boy am I emptying out my tiny little apartment! It's amazing that so much stuff even fit in here!
So awesome, I would love to have this, and I see you have Hoops and YoYo dolls!@
While this is good advice, this is the same site that thinks making fridge magnets out of empty candy boxes is cool. (And remember the fruit stickers?)
Clutter is in the eye of the beholder. Why throw away records just to replace them with CDs just to "recycle" the CDs into iTunes?
I don't advocate living like the Collier brothers, but sometimes more is more.
I try really hard to go through my things and freecycle what
I really don't need and haven't even thought about for a long time. And to realize once they have gone to a new home-I don't even miss whatever it was I gave away. I'm still working on it-its a big job and sometimes hard to do.
But I look forward to one day being clutter free. I will still keep my very favorites-but alot less. I think I will weed out more today. Thanks
Wow, this media bookcase is an organizer's dream! I saved space in my studio by putting all my cds and dvds in books and throwing away the cases. It was a little hard to part with the cases at first, but then when I saw how much less cluttered my place was (i.e. having a "clear vision") I decided that those cases were definitely worth letting go.
The last two times I moved I was fairly ruthless in unburdening myself of unused and unnecessary stuff. Each morning I would leave usable, decent stuff on the sidewalk with neatly written signs stating what the things were, and that they were free. Books were lined up neatly with the spines visible in a clean cardboard box.
THE best feeling was when I would come home from work and every last thing was gone. I felt great! I no longer had to lug this stuff around, and I knew it was being used by someone who wanted it badly enough that they had to drag it home.
The only two things that didnt go were an old (but workable) scanner, and a bad gay Manga romance comic book.
Great reminder about the cure. Everyone should make sure to check out the AT book if you haven't already. It expands on this subject greatly.
I have just started reading the book and am in the process of majorly redecorating (and in some cases reconstructing) my LA apartment. There is nothing more helpful than the concept of weeding. It makes the things that you surround yourself with (and the people, too) more important, meaningful and personal the end. The cure rocks!