Tip Tuesday – Manage Your Memorabilia

Are you the sentimental type? Do you still have Valentines from elementary school while your own kids are in college? I encourage you to manage your memorabilia according to the following mantras:

“Does it bring me happy memories?”
Don’t save that breakup letter (text or email either) from the guy that broke your heart. You know it happened, you don’t need a physical (or electronic) reminder to bring you negative feelings.

“Is it the best example I have?” 
Your best friend sends you a birthday card every year and you love her for that.  But do you need to save them ALL? Find the one card in which she wrote an especially meaningful paragraph on your decades-long friendship, and tuck it away in your “memories box.” The others, which she likely slapped her signature on while in line at the post office, you can toss.

“Do I need it all?”
Instead of saving all of a deceased loved one’s clothes because of the cherished memories they bring, I encourage you to create a quilt out of them​, as I did with my mother’s clothes. You can also have quilts made of marathon t-shirts or beloved baby clothes. This way you honor the items by re-purposing them with something you can USE.

Or, instead of storing the entire 18-piece set of your grandmother’s china in your studio apartment, save two tea cups and saucers to display and drink from. You know your grandmother loved you, so don’t let separation guilt prevent you from keeping a small selection of her belongings and giving the rest away.

If your memorabilia is in a mess, let me know how else I can help you manage it!