Lee Ella and I have been talking about doing this for a long time. RealSimple published this story as a way to encourage people like Lee Ella to maybe throw away that one sock that she’s been hanging on to since seventh grade, cause really, no matter the sentiment assigned to it, it’s just ONE sock.
The article, though I love the idea, was not designed for people like me. People like me throw things away all the time. In fact, I throw too many things away. I’m maybe a little freakish about how neat my desk has to be at work. I clean out my closets with a disturbing frequency. I’m not overly sentimental about things (nevermind all the old stuff I have, but that’s HISTORY, and none of the items of history in my house are ONE SOCK.)
All that to say, when Lee Ella first posted about the idea, I jumped on board. Yeah! I’ll do that with you! Sounds like fun! Weeks later when we finally started the process, I realized–crap. I moved two months ago. I threw away EVERYTHING I OWNED. The plus side is, doing this two months after I moved has helped me understand what it feels like for people who are more cautious about throwing things away. It kinda hurts. I had so search the house high and low. I had to go through drawers that I never look into. I had to comb through bookcases. Without further ado: My 50 things.
The whole pile.
Aerial view.
Some of the contents: A barstool I painted in high school, pots I (tried to make) made in college, two boxes of film (where did it come from?), tote bags, a medieval weapon, one ugly mask, a game that Zack never plays (except that one time, and I never want that to happen again), a box of ‘electronics cords’ that I’ve not used in FOUR YEARS but KEEP MOVING WITH ME for NO REASON. You know, the usual stuff. Hovering above is my longtime friend and closet staple, the jester costume. Next Halloween, I’m going to have to get a little more creative.
I’m not going to list out all the 50 things, mostly cause it’s not that entertaining, and some cause I don’t want you to get all upset when you realize that the only thing I had left to throw away was the domahickey that you gave me for Christmas three years ago and HOW COULD I? Sorry. It was for the sake of the clutter. I’m sure you understand.
