What to keep and what to chuck?

Some people keep everything, even their baby toys, old school reports, the dress they wore for their first date, bus tickets, the list is endless.


Others live a minimal lifestyle and don't keep anything.

But most of us are somewhere in between:  we don't have lots of storage space but there are things from our - and other family members' - past, which we'd like to keep, for whatever reason.

It seems that the type of things which we like the younger generation aren't so keen on.  So no need to keep the Royal Worcester Dinner Service just in case they decide later that they'd like to have it.  Ditto all the knick knacks brought back from holidays abroad and dozens of mis-matched glasses.

It doesn't seem fair to keep everything, then when we're gone - or have moved into supported housing with minimal space - to expect our children to sort through all our stuff.

However, we come from the post-WWII generation which kept things 'because they might come in useful' or might not be in the shops when we needed them.  

I love the story which was in the paper many years ago when someone was clearing out her aunt's house and found a small paper bag in the kitchen drawer.  On the outside it read 'pieces of string too small to do anything with'.  And that set me thinking that we are often guilty of keeping items which there's no way that they'll ever be any use to us - or even to anyone else.


My minimalist daughter says not to keep anything, but to take pictures of everything, as a reminder (and then presumably not lose the pictures!).

Another story I once heard was when a young novice Buddhist monk was asked how he coped with no longer having possessions: 'Did he miss his music collection?'.  His reply was that all the tunes were in his head, so he had no need for the actual vinyl copies any more.

Perhaps we should be letting go of possessions as much as possible. 

Also: should we keep things which mean something to us - or should we be keeping items which are important to the family in general?

I was talking to a friend about an heirloom handed down from his grandfather, and his response was how could the items be important to him as he'd never even met his grandfather?  Good point, but perhaps that heirloom may give clues to future generations about that person.  Would that be important?  Do we need to know about past generations?  

Another point this friend made was how would future generations get a good picture of their ancestor from items something behind?  Perhaps that item did not accurately reflect that person himself, only one aspect of them. 

Indeed, it's going to be very difficult in the future to only tell our children/grandchildren what we'd like them to know, in effect to 'guild the lily'.  They're going to probably know more about us than we'd like!  


At least 100 years ago it was possible to have family secrets. A good example is the family secret only discovered about 20 years after my grandmother died: that she was illegitimate, something which is commonplace now but in those days (1898) was to be very ashamed of.


I was reading somewhere today that things which are often passed down the generations are items which people can remember from earlier in their lives: perhaps an old chair which their father used to sit in every evening; the quilt which was on their bed when they went to stay with Grandma; or 

On balance I think it's important to keep some things from years ago.  People who have had nothing handed down from parents, grandparents, grandparents seem to wish that they had just a few items from their past.  

Remember, every item handed down has a story, a meaning to it.  Keep heirlooms if you can, and attach the details to the item as it's no good doing what many people do and having boxes of photos which no information on the back saying who is who!  

If you don't have the space to store any family memorabilia, see if someone else can; or as a last resort donate it to a local history society.

But it's vital not to lumber the younger generation with boxes and boxes of our 'stuff', like a burden which they'll feel guilty if they throw it all away - and loaded down if they keep it.

If you're still going to keep stuff, here are some tips on how best to store those articles: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-05-03/features/os-marni-jameson-storing-heirlooms-20130503_1_the-container-store-sneak-peek-storage-solutions