Survey #166 Response from Ellen in W Michigan
| Briefly describe who will benefit from your efforts to declutter and get organized, and how they’ll benefit. Think about members of your household, but also about the larger world—e.g., the people who’ll buy your stuff at a garage sale, the shelter residents who’ll get your donations, the next generation of family who’ll carry a lighter load, and so on. | I benefit because it is easier to keep clean. My kids benefit because I need less help and it will be easier when I have to go into a nursing home or die. Unknown beneficiaries because I finally made the decision to donate my scooter, wheelchair, and walker and trust that there will be some way to afford them again if needed without me storing, possibly for years. The thrift store I donate to helps others who are displaced as well as selling things, so they benefit and I benefit from someone else finding who can use my things I no longer need. |
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| Tell us about a memory of a person or incident from the formative years of your life that influenced your attitudes and emotions about belongings, clutter, organizing, or any related subject. (For example: “Grandma’s house was packed to the rafters with stuff.”) | My mom was a perfectionist about having a clean house, but I was the oldest in a large family so we didn't have a lot and held on to our stuff and took care of it or had to pass it down to younger siblings. For too many years, I just wanted to "have nice things like other people", but I just had too much and a lot of it was still cheap junk. |
| What is the strongest memory to which you feel connected by way of an object, such as a souvenir, photo, or keepsake? | I love knowing the "story" of things and much of my furniture came from others, but my strongest memories are of things, people, and times that are gone. Still won't give up my oak kitchen table that belonged to my husband's grandparents, though. It is about 83 years old and unusual. |
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