Ask:
I wanted to report that I feel like I am finally entering the home stretch in my de-cluttering. I am still finding stashes here and there that are no-brainers (like the 5 million hangers I found today ), but it is getting down to the nitty gritty and decisions are getting harder to make.
Even though I feel like I am approaching a "critical mass" of sorts pertaining to the amount of stuff in my life, I have a suspicion that the last items will be the hardest. I also think this will take the longest length of time to complete.
This is where I ponder why I am keeping the ceramic Josef Originals number dolls that I got for each birthday since I was 1. I have all of them to 21 as well as the graduation doll. I also need to consider the toys I saved for when I had a daughter. What will she actually want to play with? How long do I keep it around waiting for her to be interested?
I need to find the fine line that lies between tossing in the name of "simplifying" and really needing to keep for posterity. There just aren't any clear answers...so I continue to just slog on...
Answer:
About two years ago I learned to get rid of things that I was just keeping becuase I had too. I got rid of my brownie uniform and my karate belts and troffies that I have had over 20 years. I have never regreated getting rid of them. One suggestion is to line all the dolls up and take a picture of them , keep the picture and toss the dolls. You will have the memories every time you see the picture.