In this season of Thanksgiving, it feels appropriate to reflect on what we are grateful for during our slow downsizing process. My thanks go to:
- Memorabilia that has survived the years through various moves and storage systems and now lets us relive those moments from our past
- My parents who let me curate my own things growing up (and didn’t throw them out without my permission)
- My husband and I being on the same page regarding our downsizing goals. We may have slightly different approaches, but overall, we agree on what needs to happen and what our next steps are.
- The many organizations that take donated items and help others with the proceeds, especially Big Brothers Big Sisters, which picks up at the door and More than Words, which takes our books and fosters work skills in the young people who work there.
- Organizations we want to support that hold specialized annual events, such as auctions, sales, or swaps.
- Consignment shops that have sold our clothes household goods/toys/knick-knacks and the buyers that have helped them find new homes.
- Trash Nothing (a freecycle type site) where we can easily post a variety of items (like shells and old stuffed toys) that might not be suitable for a donation site or that have some personal meaning to us and that we want to have a new home.
- Dealers who have bought outright our varied collections of mid-century furniture, vintage clothes, ephemera, books, and records and have expressed their appreciation for what they’ve bought.
- Photographic digitizing services that have copied thousands of color slides from my travels, visits with my family, and other good times and the lightboard that let me sort through the slides.
- Neighbors and friends who have purchased the art we our family members have created
- Professional organizers/downsizers who have provided us with contacts, tips, and insights to take our downsizing to another level.
- Authors of useful books on downsizing who also have provided helpful perspectives.
- My scanner and my camera for preserving memories so I can toss the paper
- A dry basement and a large enough house that has kept the living space clutter to a minimum
- U-Haul for its many years of service, especially as a storage space for my mother’s large artwork. (I closed out my space a few months ago)
- The Internet for providing a means to do research
- Excel for its spreadsheets
- Google photos for an easy way to make photo albums that can be shared (used by me to show what I have available for sale as well as to organized memories)
- My artistic skills that have allowed me to create memory collages of my family and scrapbook pages of my travels
- Friends who, for years, have listened to me talk about downsizing without saying, “Aren’t you done yet?”.
- The luxury of not feeling rushed.
- This blog that has given me a means of processing my thoughts about and experiences with downsizing.
- And to you, readers of this blog, especially those who offer comments.
Happy Thanksgiving!
