Holiday Clutter

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I set out to decorate the house for the holidays. Over the years we have learned to group all the decorations in one area in the basement so we can easily identify the boxes that need to be pulled out and searched through so we (actually “she”) can decide what theme we’re following each year. With over 35 years of Christmases together we have managed to accumulate quite an array of decorations – many that haven’t come out of the boxes for a long, long time.


Then it struck me – the “A-Ha Moment” – why are we keeping all these decorations we haven’t used for years? Why are we taking up storage space and maintaining unnecessary clutter?

Well – an opportunity exists to make a change. When the first or second weekend in January rolls around and we’re “undecorating” (always somewhat depressing), it will be the perfect time to “cull out” the decorations that have fallen from favor and set them aside for disposal – at the spring yard sale, donated to Salvation Army or Goodwill, handed down to family, etc. That will be the time when my wife and I need to resist the temptation to just put the boxes back on the shelf and keep the clutter – just in case we might use them at some future holiday season. But if you’re like us and are considering downsizing or relocating at some future date, you’ll appreciate having a couple boxes less to deal with then.

Will we be successful? I dunno, but we’re going to try. Please feel free to join us. I bet we’d all feel better if we tried.