...plucking up the courage to ask a friend if it was ok that I didn't want to keep the table tennis set she randomly sent me (that we won't even open) and she said 'yes' so now I can pass it on without guilt instead of keeping it around.
What are you proud of that made your life a tiny (or a great) bit better?
I deleted a TON of people from my Facebook account. I realized I spend too much time on there, and yes, I could have just hidden their posts, but then they'd respond to mine, and I'd feel the need to respond back....so I made a post telling people I'm clearing it out, only keeping musicians to track album releases/tours/etc, and please don't take it personally when I delete you. Left that message for a few days, then deleted almost 100 people. Now I only have musicians, a handful of writers, and a few others with whom FB is my only mode of communication. I think it will drastically cut back the temptation to check for updates as often as I do, because there won't be as many, and there won't be as many people responding to mine.
And if you're wondering why I don't delete my account entirely, I don't want to do that, as I said, there are some people who don't live in my state and FB is the main way I communicate with them. There is one community of friends in particular that I find it enriching to have multi-person conversations on FB, that wouldn't be the same in e-mail.
Anyway, I'm pretty proud of cutting back. I also deleted my MySpace account (which I haven't checked in over a year) and tumblr, which I tried briefly but realized was a HUGE useless timesink, and deleted a few blogs from my RSS reader.
Jen
I'm particularly proud of deciding to unclutter my digital piano, finding a friend who wanted it, and keeping the task active until accomplished. Now a very nice instrument is being used daily for its proper purpose, and not just as part of the cats' elevated highway.
Next on the list: the vintage Philco radio-phonograph. I have someone who says she wants it but she's not pursuing it, so I have to chase her down!
@Jen: I found RSS from blogs to be way too much for me. It was a sudden flood and it suffocated. I deleted the few ones I had tried it with and now keep my bookmarks neatly organized into folders by context so that I visit certain web pages only when there's a true need to find some information or for recreational purposes. RSS made me feel obligated somehow.
I'm particularly proud of realizing how the concept of information on just about anything works on me; I've collected information in books, ripped out articles from newspapers and magazines over the years, etc. and then rarely turn back to them since they've been one huge mess. Instead of forcing myself to go through all of it, piece by piece, I've simply chucked them into recycling. The first time was seriously shaky, but I survived and noticed a bubbly joy growing inside me, quite unexpected. I can't read it all and now I see that I won't be a lesser person for it. Bonus from this is peace of mind. And decluttering of course. Letting go of this made it easier to start everywhere else too.
i am particulary proud of realizing that i dont have many THINGS to declutter anymore. i just dont find anything to give away for ATAD.
on the one hand i am a bit scared because i'd still like to downsize but on the other hand i am quiete confident. there are a lot of tasks to do that i detected while// because of decluttering, e.g. my broken clock, that has to be repaired because i love it so much. these tasks, broken things to repair, walls to be paint and dogs beds to be sewed pile up and i will declutter them from now on.
ninakk, I know what you mean about RSS making you feel obligated. I had that problem for a while, but I've been able to break myself of it. If I'm too busy or just don't feel like it, I no longer have any problem marking everything as read, and not giving it a second thought. I can see how that would be very hard to do though, and not havine RSS at all would be helpful to some.
Oh, I'm also proud of putting about a half dozen more books in my "to donate" box. They're books I've been hanging onto becuase I might read them again someday. And I might, but it's been years since I've read them, and they're available on the Kindle, so I accepted that it's very possible I in fact WON'T read them again, but if I do, I can buy it on the Kindle. Sure, it will cost a few more dollars, but in the long run, those dollars will be worth the extra space on my shelf and lighter box the next time I move. Now I'm down to 3 shelves of books, (that's shelves, as in not even a full bookcase) as opposed to 3 years ago when my (now ex-boyfriend) and I had 16 6-foot bookshelves FULL. YIKES!!
One of my more recent unclutterings: Getting past the thinking-about-getting-rid-of-some-books stage to actually getting the books out of the house. I was very proud of myself.
I gave away some sixty-three-year-old hand-embroidered baby dresses. Formerly mine, so now you know how old I am :)
I am really proud of getting past the deeply ingrained idea that using technology to make my life easier and less cluttered was a bad thing.
Well done everyone!
Yesterday I bought a wooden massager thingy for use at work (teaching childbirth preparation classes) - the Body Shop lady tried to get me to take a free bottle of oil with it, but I refused. I don't need it. I could have taken it and freecycled it, but my time is valuable.
I live in the Boston area (US) and we've had a horrible winter with more snow to come. I'm very proud that last summer and fall I cleaned out the basement enough so when we get a water leak (it's an inevitablility when all the snow melts!) I'll be able to clean it up easily and nothing of value will be damaged.
@ChaCha1:"the cats' elevated highway." Hilarious!!!!
charity, this is advanced decluttering!
in my mind popped up: you could have given it to someone in your class or give it as a present, or donate it or... mr justin case....
wow, you can be proud of resisting.
I'm proud of my continuing efforts unclutter and stay organized and how well being organized has cut down on my procrastination.
Zora: if you want to keep a dress, here's a thought: my aunt has one of my cousin's baby dresses lovingly displayed on a hanger where she sees it every day. It makes me smile, too.
I'm proud of my zero consumption of major purchases (being unemployed does have one benefit).
I'm proud of finally being able to separate the sentimental and the 'paid good money for this' stuff from the items that actually take me where I want to go. It means that I'm finally taking my goals seriously and trying to advance in one or two key areas, rather than doing 17 things at once and getting nowhere fast.
SunshineR -- the dresses are gone, gone, gone. Most of them to a friend who just had a baby. The largest, and most elaborate, to my next-door-neighbor for a christening dress for her new baby.
They're thin white batiste, and should be used before they disintegrate with age!
I was given them by my mother and was holding on to them for my daughter -- but she seems in no hurry to procreate. Not sure that she would want to bother with fragile little dresses that require ironing in any case.
i am very happy that my decluttering has been noticed by my mother and has gone some way to influencing her to do the same.
it's been like water dripping on a stone, but things are starting to soften.
Wow, everyone has great stories! Keep it up :-)
@JuliaJayne - actually getting things out of the house is my biggest problem, so that's awesome!
Thanks, Joless.
It feels awesome. :)
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