The tee-shirt says it all or does it?  Marie Kondo and her philosophy of tidy changed the way many people view their stuff. On a recent donation run to Value Village the young man accepting donations said to me “Man, that Marie Kondo has done an awesome job for Value Village.”

I did enjoy her Netflix series and it did encourage me to do another purge. Yet, somehow even though I apply all of her criteria I still find the hardest things to part with are what I call the “just in case” stuff. This includes the boot cast I had to wear when I broke a bone in my foot, the lovely but itchy wool turtleneck sweater that I can really only wear with another turtleneck underneath- I don’t have any turtlenecks that I could wear underneath. And the magenta or pink fleece lined shell that I bought for practical reasons. I needed something I could wear on misty rainy days. After all I didn’t have a decent raincoat. Maybe that’s a ‘stop gap’ purchase and not a ‘just in case.’ Either way I’ve had it for over 8 years and still don’t have a decent rain coat. Hmmm.

I suppose this means that, rather than following a ‘Less is more’ philosophy, I’ve opted for a ‘Less is more except for these things that I must hold onto just in case’ philosophy. I know this is far from brilliant. Actually, as I’m writing this I really do realize that it’s kind of stupid- well maybe just silly. All the same I’m not big on being either stupid or silly when it comes to things like this.

So… the solution is: the boot cast will go to my local church and they will send it to a clinic in a third world country where it will get far more use. The sweater in need of more clothing items in order to be wearable and the pink shell will go to Value Village.
Maybe I’ll see that astute young man again, maybe not. In the meantime I think I’ll let myself ponder about “what and who else I may be holding onto ‘just in case.’ Because sometimes it isn’t just stuff that we hold onto ‘just in case.’ Hmmm

Widow Wednesdays returns next week with “Who are the safe people”

Looking for last week’s “Widow Wednesdays #3- Don’t give up on your friends (Part 2) click here

To learn more about Heike (Author: “Grief is…”) click here

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