Why do we hold on to things? Isn’t it more liberating to let go and stick to the bare necessities – with room for just a little extra perhaps? Moving to a new flat and going through a tough time has led me to sit down and ponder on how to lift some weight off my shoulders. Sorting my closets and asking myself the real question: “Do I really need this?” has helped me focus on what matters and allowed myself to move on. And maybe it will help you too.

Back in January, I moved to a new flat for different reasons:

1) To be closer to my workplace and avoid late-night commuting, 
2) To enjoy an extra room to work on my DIY and offer good sleeping conditions to visiting friends, 
3) To allow my heart to mend following the sudden passing of my beloved pet rabbit and not be in a place so full of memories. 

As I don’t have a car, I depended on my kind father to help me move. I was determined to be organised about this and avoid any waste of (his) time. I doubt dad will read this as the only English he kind of understands is Beatles lyrics, but you reader should know that sometimes I try to be as good and thoughtful a daughter as I can be.

So I happily and eagerly engaged in a first session of sorting: that was the easiest step as I tend to keep everything and anything. “I can totally upcycle this ugly jumper to cool winter mittens!” I assured before goming home, leaving said jumper on a pile of other wonderful things I would totally upcycle and never touched again. What was truly in a bad state would be thrown away or recycled accordingly; some older but still-wearable clothes were donated to Le Relais through one of the big bins across the street; other things were donated to friends and family. 

This sorting didn’t prevent me from waking up in the middle of the night, three days before D-Day, hit by a major anxiety attack – one that makes you firmly believe that this is it, your heart is giving up on you what-the-hell-have-I-done-with-my-life-please-let-me-gasp-for-air. I have too many things. I’m never going to be ready. Thank dog for my friend Justine, who kindly gave up an entire weekend of her own life to drag suitcases and big ugly Ikea bags full of crap on public transports from one flat to the other. In the cold and wet month of January. Cheerful and reassuring me that everything would be fine.

Some work, a lot of life and a little bit of procrastination had me live among boxes for weeks. Literally weeks. I would sit on my couch, stare at all these things I should sort out and tidy but which just gathered dust instead, and didn’t lift a finger. To be honest, looking back, besides that ounce of laziness that I did and do have in me, I was stopped by two major issues: I didn’t know where to start and I didn’t want to look at all these things which I dragged around and partly didn’t bring me any joy anymore. 

Life always has a funny way and difficulties at work led me to needing some time off to take a step back and rebuild my confidence. Little did I know that these events – which by the way I am still dealing with – would trigger my motivation to let go of things as a cure to a healthier mindset. 

Have you ever felt like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and you just can’t move ahead aymore? Well, this. Exactly. I needed novelty. I needed to clear the path ahead free of anything from the past – memories or just plain basic possessions – and start anew. Literally leave the dark clouds behind and focus on the warm sun ahead. 

The step that came most naturally was to go through my wardrobe. And when I say “go through my wardbrobe,” I mean BIG TIME. No excuse, no “but when I fit in a size 40,” no “but I like to wear it when I go to the beach this one day a year,” no “I bought it in a small vintage Parisian shop with the girls.” None of this. What do I really wear? What do I fit in? What do I feel good in? After asking friends if they were interested in a few like-new items, I created an account on Vinted and listed the following: clothes that I bought as a weight-loss motivation years ago but still couldn’t fit in, clothes that I didn’t feel comfortable in anymore, clothes that were not to my tastes anymore, clothes that I keep “just in case” but literally hardly ever wear. I stuck to the minimal, which is pretty much 1/4 of what filled my closet. 

I thought to myself, “It’s not that I haven’t got enough space. It’s just that I have too many things.“

Thanks to the newly-found space, I got to reorganise my linen instead of shoving it clumsily wherever it would fit without falling back down. Within just the month of April, I also made 140€ from Vinted sales. So whether you need money or wish to save up for a big project – as is my case – sorting out your clothes, shoes and accessories can only mean good things.

I applied the same method to my guest room/workshop: all the DIY tools I have piled up but never use were given to a coworker with a four-year-old daughter who, I’m sure, will make the most of them.

A big box full of random things – from cables to trip memories – dominating my smaller bedroom is currently being sorted out objectively. Do I genuinely need to keep a map of the National Museum of Scotland from my trip to Edinburgh five years or so ago? Not really. I meant well, wishing to create a beautiful travel journal for all my adventures. But let us be honest: if I haven’t taken the time to sit and do it since 2013, I’m probably not going to do it anytime soon. Likewise, I love postcards and always buy a big bunch wherever I go. I stick one on my wall, send a few to friends and relatives. But do I genuinely need the other ten? Nah. At this point, I’m looking for options as to where to sell and/or donate my extra postcards whether “in real life” or online. 

There is something emotional about sorting out your boxes and cupboards as it does equal sorting out your life, to a certain extent. You simply cannot prevent memories from surfacing. I did keep the ticket from my first trip to Manchester as I lived in Coventry, England. I will pin it to my wall. I remember listening to Oasis while on the train and was so excited to see the place where so much of my favourite music had come to life. You should not rid yourself of everything. But restricting yourself to what you really need or use, and holding on to memories rather than objects will leave you both physically freer and emotionally richer. I do see a new chapter ahead, feel stronger from knowing where the true value of things lies, have given a second life to items I had no use for and made people happy in the process.