Don't let "stuff" keep track of your memories

Why is it that we keep things? I have all sorts of things lying around that I only think I'll have some use for in the future. Odds are though, I won't. I've got books on my shelves, shirts in my closets, and old letters in my basement.

It's hard to get rid of things that have personal meaning to us. We look ahead to that day, years down the road when we pick it up again, and it brings back memories. However, for that moment to have true meaning, we need to have already ignored the item for years.

I move a lot, and because of this, I often find myself throwing away things that I realize I've been keeping for years. If I owned a house, I would have been able to keep most of that stuff, but would I be any better off? In the end, sadly, most of it just becomes stuff.

Certain things I would never throw away, like photographs. I'm not sure why these have a special exemption. They are small, easy to keep, and can tell a story at least as well as any other bunch of stuff could. Except perhaps, a journal.

The only time I've really kept a journal was when I spent a month in Thailand. It's one of those items that I just have lying around and can never seem to find the right place for. I pick it up occasionally and am so thankful to have written it. Together with just a few photos, it paints an almost perfect picture of my trip, and who I was at the time.

I've recently started to write more things down. Believe me, it's hard to stay current and disciplined. But years from now, I will be able to look back at all the wonderful things I've done, the people who've come and gone, and see how I've changed.

That will be worth so much more than all that "stuff" I've been keeping.