Hankering after minimalism but being a sentimental hoarder

I've written a lot on this blog about a journey towards minimalism. As well as dabbling with Marie Kondo and her methods and thus making sure that I only keep things in my home that spark joy, I have also played the minimalism game several times, most recently just last month. I've always decluttered regularly and made an effort to limit my possessions, it's a constant process.

I find that having lots of things around me causes me stress.  I love a clear surface, and I work hard daily to maintain them. I'm the only one in the house that is bothered so it does all fall to me, but to be honest I prefer that as at least I know where everything is!

However I could never manage to cut back to the bare minimum. I have had periods in my life when I lived day to day with very little, and I managed perfectly fine. For example, I spent a year living in Germany with what fitted into a large suitcase - including things like a massive German dictionary, a pillow, a large jar of Marmite and various bits of cooking equipment.

Unfortunately all this time I still had a large bedroom and part of the loft at my parent's house stuffed with my things - spare clothes, old school books, old toys... All this stuff did eventually make its way back to me when I moved into a house with a loft of my own, and has long been sorted, discarded and sent on its way.  Our loft now is empty apart from a few empty boxes and the Christmas decorations.

I still do have quite a collection of sentimental things though. I have photos and old diaries of course, and ticket stubs, leaflets and postcards. I have old yearbooks, programmes from my favourite theatre shows, a vintage magazine collection and various other bits of ephemera. How could I throw away something like my fantastic vintage 90s sticker collection, which I blogged about last week?

Or this little fellow that sits on the shelf above my desk?

This chap is watching me while I work today, did any one else have one? I can't remember what they were called, he glows in the dark! #epig #vintagetoy #vintagetoys #glowworm

A post shared by jenniferjain (@jenniferjain) on Oct 13, 2017 at 12:58am PDT

I also have what I like to call my 'treasure box' - a vintage wooden sewing box with fold out layers, packed with tiny erasers, dolls house accessories, shells, little figurines, badges and magnets.

So I'm never going to be one of those people that can live with less than 100 items, or only the things that will fit into a backpack. As much as I like a clear surface, I also like to be surrounded by things that bring joy and happy memories. I just need to make sure that they don't stay shut away in boxes and folders, and that I pull them out regularly to really appreciate them. I might even share some more of them here on the blog!