This is a touchy subject. When I am with a client, I hear a lot of reasons why someone "I can't let this go because my aunt gave it to me and it was important to HER...." Ok. Yes. It was important to your aunt, but what about you? Does it give you super fond memories of her or does something else make you think of a memory that you treasure even more? I totally understand the desire to keep treasures that remind you of your aunt, but do you have to keep everything from her? Something that rings true for me here are two old friends of mine who passed away in my early twenties. They had a deep impact on my life and at the time, I wanted to keep everything of theirs that I had as a reminder of them or maybe I would forget. But with time, I realized that there were certain pieces I had that were more special than others. I kept all the pictures of them. I kept a necklace that one of them wore every day and even smelled like him because it was hemp! But, with time, I passed on a scarf to donation and other things that weren't as meaningful. When I picked them up, they didn't give me the same feeling as the necklace did and it felt more like clutter than treasure, so I parted with it. Does that make their memory disappear? Absolutely not! In fact, it made ROOM for the necklace in a way. By parting with the unwanted, less desirable items given by them, it made me appreciate certain items more. I have room for love and joy in my home for memories! If it could be an issue later on with family members, it is perfectly acceptable to send an email or text to family members saying you "no longer have room" for certain items and give them a chance to claim them!
If we are to honor the people in our lives who are with us or who have passed over, how beautiful to love and cherish a few items that we can look upon fondly instead of hoarding them all. We can't put so much energy into all the things, but we can put tremendous energy into a few things.
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