The Purge

[Sibyl]

No, not the movie, but belongings and life-changes.

How many of you have gone through a purge or two in your life? Some people do it to declutter, as my aunt mentioned, some when they move, some when they divorce or marry, add/drop/change hobbies...there are many reasons.

I'm about to purge in favor of making space and earn the seed money for a new career.

I'm about to sell every manufactured action figure, model, and miniature that I own and don't plan on getting another for the foreseeable future, if ever again. Yes, even my beloved DST TWOK figures...INCLUDING Saavik (Don't worry, mods, this is not a sales thread).

I've been putting it off far too long, but I'm finally putting my 3d modeling skills to work. I'll do my best to give new life to a dying art with the assistance of modern technology, and, if lucky, earn enough to exist comfortably and not week-to-week. Maybe even build my dome home or cargo container house someday.

Since September 16, 1977, I've known what I was meant to do. Unfortunately, because of my location, I felt that dream was out of reach and it eventually faded. No longer. It's back, big-time, and I'm going for it.

 

[SPCTRE]

I'm currently in the process of getting rid of things (video game collections and other things I no longer have a strong emotional connection to)

another aspect with physical video game collections is of course the increasing availability of digital content, which frees up tons and tons of space

my main motivation is that we have a baby daughter now and I want to declutter to have as much space available as possible for her things - I want us to be able to keep/store keepsakes of her development without having to worry about storage space at all

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I do a purging at least once or twice a year. Clothes, books, old toys... It feels good to declutter, and know that someone will enjoy the things I no longer want.

 

[Boomstick]

I sold all my stuff and moved recently. I don't feel like it's had a major impact mentally, it was mostly piles of books, dvds and games. and allowed myself to keep a handful of books and some albums. Definitely don't miss it though. Maybe it'll be frustrating one day when I feel nostalgic for something but that doesn't compare to having nothing to tie you to a place.

 

[Kor]

Sometimes I get sick of a bunch of movies I have watched a million times, or I realize that I have movies that I haven't watched in a long time and don't really want to watch any more, so I sell them off. I recently did this again.

Kor

 

[May 20]

I declutter a little bit every month. But last year we moved across state lines, so we did a deep purge. If we didn't love it or use it or absolutely need it (important papers, for example), it was given away, donated, or thrown away. It took several months to go through the house, but we knew we were downsizing, so it was necessary to be ruthless. At the time, it was difficult, but in retrospect, it was useful and cleansing.

 

[Gary7]

I'm in the middle of a purge. A far reaching one, of stuff I've accumulated and dragged with me to and from each place I've lived. The need to have "stuff" is being outweighed by the realization of the reduced stress and freedom of minimal clutter. I'm an avid problem solver and have always enjoyed having junk drawers and boxes of "stuff" to use for problems to solve... which has served me. But I've come to realize the mental expense in keeping stuff around... and that it's often better to just buy what you need when the time comes.

Sometimes you need a jolt of reality. My apartment building had a fire scare. When the alarm system failed, it was the smell of smoke that alerted me. Someone had called the local fire department. As the trucks arrived, I'd grabbed my two laptop computers, portable hard drive, and a small hand-carry safe that holds very important documents. Thankfully the fire was contained. But I realized how much stuff I'd have lost in the fire if it had reached my apartment. I'd rather reduce the clutter and be able to take my most precious things with me, leaving lesser things behind.