About 20 years ago, my husband Jim and I made the decision to build an addition to our 900 square-foot house. The main purpose was to house our preschooler’s ever-growing collection of “needs” along with each of our hobbies and interests.
Now our son is an adult living on his own, and Jim is unable to continue his hobbies because of a disability. And let’s face it, like so many others, I just don’t have the free time for my own interests anymore. Over time, our collection of stuff has turned to clutter. And here lies the dilemma. What do I do with all this stuff? We get so emotionally attached to the strangest things when we go through the home-purging process. Where to begin?
Sometimes the choices are obvious. Maybe it’s time to donate that 5-foot stuffed rabbit that has been in the family for 50 years. True story – it came with my brother’s brand-new 1964 Impala and was removed from my mother’s house 15 years ago in a huge cleanup. Big bunny then moved comfortably into my house and became part of my life once more! It’s Easter time after all; he’ll find a new home. Let him go. Bye-bye bunny.
I confess to being a knowledge junkie; big surprise, I work in a library. But books, movies, and music – can I really let go of those items I hold so dear to my heart? All those historical Michener books taking me to exciting places in time. The books themselves are older than my adult child and are taking up valuable real estate in my house. As a library user myself, I have an edge in this cleaning-out process. The library can get just about any type of media for users: if the item is not available at the local library, it can be found through one of the many services available like Prospector and other inter-library loan services.
How about ending magazine subscriptions – do I really need all those Oprah magazines stacking up with great tips about organizing and decluttering? No I don’t, because the library has Zinio, a fantastic downloadable library that has this magazine plus many more. The Zinio app is available for use on many tablets such as iPads, Kindle Fire and more. Plus, think of all the trees I’ll be saving with magazines on my tablet instead of cluttering my house!
Check the library’s downloadables webpage for more information on how to get started. Remember that the library has great books on helping to clean out and organize your home – authors Peter Walsh and Brooks Palmer – to name just a few.
And if you give away, remember the Poudre River Friends of the Library will gladly take your books and media cast-offs to help fund more great library services.