Keeping things is a luxury. Think about it. You have to have space, usually space isn't free, not for any dependable length of time anyway. Then think about pioneer women who left all their keepables behind as they kept moving to the next space. Even when they found a space they held onto it was a luxury to keep anything they didn't need for survival. Keeping things is definitely a luxury.

We keep so much too. We even have a fancy word for it: keepsakes. Every time I hear or see that word I think about modern people having too much stuff and those old pioneers who had so little. It must have been very hard to part with Grandmother's china for the sake of getting the wagon load of supplies and family through the mud to the next town.

What do you keep that you could really get rid of? If you move this becomes a big focus of your packing experience. It's so easy to keep things, collect things but so much work to pack and move all those things. Do you really want to heft around a 30 pound box of Beanie Babies? How important do they feel when you have to weigh them against space in the moving truck, your own sore muscles and the fact that you'll have to give them space in your new place.

I keep things too. You're not alone in this keeping boat. But, at times I envy the vagabond, gypsy, nomadic lifestyle. Don't you think it would be nice to live simply? To have less to dust, less to care about and so much less to cart about, it sounds like a breath of fresh air compared to all those keepsakes weighing you down, taking all the air out of the room. Do you feel trapped?

But, we all want nice things. Cute things, things that might some day be worth more than you paid for them and things that will some day prove useful, it's just giving them space that bothers me. Space in your dwelling and space in your life. I think I need a little less luxury and I'm over due for a hefty Spring cleaning.