Dododreams

My daughters and I finally did some deep digging into the remaining boxes in their room today, resulting in

(a) More readily accessible drawers for their toys and miscellany

(b) A box of things for Goodwill

(c) A full garbage bag of things which no one values any longer.

It’s been a big project with more to go for them and me working together. The next big step is to review all their stuffed animals to see which they really want to keep and which they are ready to let go.

This leads to me ask opinions on something I have been mulling over for months — actually since beginning packing to move the last time. The question is this:

If something has no value to anyone but you, does it really have value at all?

This sounds like some faux-zen if-a-tree-falls-in-the-wood question, so let me give an example.

I have a box of things from my childhood. There is a wide variety of items in there, including, for example, the head off a bottle of Bullwinkle bubble bath that must have been given to me prior to third grade, since I know it was at the 5th street house.

No one but me has ever looked at these things. I haven’t even opened the box other than to confirm what’s inside for many years. My children don’t know the stories behind the things in there. When I die, the contents will appear to be junk. They are junk, valueless to anyone but me. Why have I felt compelled to keep that box of things? Why is it difficult to do the obvious thing and just chuck it and forget about it?

I think I am asking here for support because it seems to be time to chuck a lot of things from my life.