I think many of us are guilty of this: when we first move out of our parents’ home out on our own, we inevitably have way more stuff than will fit into our new pad, so all sorts of less-necessary stuff tends to get stashed with mum and dad … for “later”. Well, it’s been 12 years since I moved out … do you think it’s “later” yet?
Since we’re seeking to simplify our lives here in our tiny TO apartment, when we went out to Manitoba to visit family, it seemed only appropriate that I give in to my mother’s constant pleas for me to go through my stash of stuff and hopefully weed out some unnecessary clutter.
I’m not sure I ended up tossing quite as much as she would have hoped, but I managed to sort through four boxes, which is at least a good start. (It turns out it’s really hard to not be completely distracted by sentimentality and detours down memory lane when doing this sort of thing!) Of the four boxes, one got completely emptied, two got nicely condensed, and one will actually make the trek out to TO in July with the parents so that I can either use or scan and archive the contents.
Awesome (and random) things I found:
- 3 shoeboxes full of crazily folded notes from jr.high and high school that will be nearly impossible for adult me to open or re-fold without detailed instructions
- a red painted rock
- hotel key cards
- my old billfold from serving at BPs, complete with a swipe card, specials list … and some temporary tattoos!
Things I learned:
- I am rather horrible with sketchbooks – most of them are 90% empty save for a few sketches on the first pages (or 100% empty, waiting for the elusive ‘perfect’ inspiration)
- journals from 8 years ago are both hilarious and slightly embarrassing (and impossible to toss.)
- I can get a little ranty on essays when teachers don’t give me the mark I thought I deserved
- I’m still way to attached to stuffed animals (my baby Simba definitely came back to Toronto with us in a backpack and is currently perched on top of the shelves in our office.)
- apparently my fascination with creepy looking dolls began early … I managed to send one doll off to the thrift store, but a second will definitely be here in July to begin her new life as an art photography model!
The pictures below are the items that are no longer taking up space in mum and dad’s garage. Not a huge stack, I’ll admit, but it’s a start … and I’ll be able to add to the pile when the archiving box makes it here in July!
Missing 5 uncaptioned photos