I'm not one who collects things--not stamps, dishes, or knickknacks. You'll not find any high school mementos in my closets. I trade off my paperback books after I've read them. This has been a source of pride for me; not because I think there is anything wrong with collecting, but because I was a collector in the past and was never very organized about it.
I used to collect things because they had sentimental value or it was just "too good" to throw out. I had closets full of stuff I hadn't looked at in years--a stuffed monkey from when I was a kid, a bowling trophy from 3rd grade, certificates for being an outstanding reader from elementary school. When we made a big move and auctioned off most of our belongings--except for a few truly sentimental items--I vowed "never again". I've stuck to it fairly well too. Or so I thought.
Yesterday when I was perusing my bookmarks of quilting sites that I wanted to add to this blog, I found the dreaded, overloaded, unlooked at collection in the bookmark folder. Yep, with each new computer (there have been 5 since the time I began quilting), I just transferred the bookmarked sites from one computer to the next. No organization at all! There are quilting bookmarks for blogs, online fabric stores, sites that offer free patterns, and those simply showing off beautiful quilts, all intermixed in one single file. Upon review, I discovered a lot of the sites didn't even exist anymore. When did they disappear? I have no idea.
So now, I have one last closet to clean and organize--the bookmark "closet" on my computer.
Of course the closet that holds the fabric stash doesn't count! :-)
There is something very liberating about divesting oneself of "stuff," be it old bowling trophies or bookmarks. I am a big fan of de-cluttering, and think it makes room for other good things to come into your life. I haven't found it so easy to get rid of certain collections though. And I agree, the fabric stash doesn't count!
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