Keeping Spring Cleaning Stress Free (You Have Permission to Get Rid of Stuff!)

Please enjoy the following transcript from a past episode of Exhibitsmith the Podcast. Keeping Spring Cleaning Stress Free debuted on February 29, 2024. Find Exhibitsmith on your favorite podcast platform and at Podbean.

You have permission to get rid of things the easy way. If you need a sign from the universe to do it, here it is. Hi, it's me, holding a sign. I recently had trouble clearing out my garage. My somewhat - simple goal to purge some old things that were taking up space proved to be harder than I had anticipated. So, I wanted to take some time today to share my story with the hope that it might help you too.

Hi, my name is Lindsey Smith with Exhibitsmith. I’m rethinking the way we save our stuff. I help people interpret, preserve, and better understand the objects that make up our world. If you have a lot of stuff, it might feel overwhelming. But believe it or not, I truly believe that artifact and heirloom preservation can be both easy and fun. In fact, I’ve developed a series of introductory-level workshops on this topic and others just to prove my point. Learn more about them at exhibitsmith.com.

A few weeks ago, I did a little early spring cleaning. I rummaged through the bins in the basement and in our closets, and I managed to fill six garbage bags full of old clothes, old shoes, and other household items. Some of these were easy things to say goodbye to. Some things are just easy to pass along. After all, we have kids and they outgrow clothes left and right. But I also made some deep personal cuts to some stuff I’ve had for a long time. I’ve moved a lot over the years and after a while, I just started asking, why am I really holding on to it all? So, I decided to finally donate a couple bridesmaid's dresses – dresses from my 20s that I always wanted to wear again. Famous last words, right?

Now for some reason, I feel the need to tell you that these dresses weren't technically bridesmaid's dresses. They were simply lovely formal dresses that I happened to wear while being a bridesmaid so I could have worn them again IF they fit. BUT it's been almost 20 years since I wore them, AND they haven't fit in a long time.

I think one of the reasons why I really wanted to keep the dresses was just in case I did ever fit in them again, they could be like a little a trophy to myself, but that's usually not a great reason to keep something. And to keep something for decades. (And besides, I have my wedding dress if I wanted to play that game. And, I’ll have you know, I can still fit into the same earrings I wore in high school. So there. OMG.) So, after many years and many moves across three states, I finally put those gowns into the donation bags alongside everything else, tied the bags shut, and set them aside.

It was then, however, when things got complicated, or rather they threatened to get complicated. I came across an ad for a local charity that solicits donations of formal wear for high schoolers to go into prom. At first, I thought this would be perfect. I can downsize my collection and help someone find a lovely dress. It's a win-win, right? I stepped into our garage where the garbage bags were piled up alongside some other items we needed to toss, and that's when my mindset changed.

The garbage bags were all sealed and ready to go. All I needed to do was put them in the trunk and drive away. But now, I needed to go through the bags, find all the formal attire, re-bag everything, et cetera, et cetera. I looked at the ad for the charity - the donation deadline was approaching. There were specific donation hours, and I had to go to a location that was unfamiliar to me.

It was at that point when I started to feel just a little overwhelmed, not good. So I took a step back to reevaluate the situation. I have a lot of stuff to donate. I could do that right now, or I could take a few extra steps to make sure that my donations go to an organization that specializes in what I have to offer. I'm creating more work for myself in this scenario, but it'll be worth it, right? I decided to set the donation bags aside until I had time to quote deal with it. And that's why the bags sat there for two extra weeks, taunting me, reminding me that I now had more work to do before all the stuff could leave my house.

These extra steps were not something I needed in my life at that time in order to reach my cleaning goals. I just needed all of the stuff to be gone in the past.

I've definitely donated to specialized organizations in the past, most notably, an organization that provides business attire for individuals seeking employment and for many years, I donated used books to a local book sale. These are wonderful organizations, and if their needs fit within your abilities, I highly recommend seeking them out. But THIS time around for ME, I didn't have the mental bandwidth to deal with anything other than cleaning house. And that's why I finally gave myself permission to ignore the formal wear charity solicitation. I ended up dropping everything off at one of those big old local donation repositories that will take all kinds of things.

I crossed the extra tasks off my to-do list, and I moved on to my next project. I felt a little guilty, but I also feel good because I'd made that decision. If you have items that you need to get out of the house and your end goal is just to donate them, don't create more work for yourself if it starts to stress you out or complicate things.

I had gotten caught up with making things more complicated, even though my end goal hadn't changed much. I'm sure we could all have a very rousing conversation on what really happens to clothing after it's donated and the issues with fast fashion and all of that. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I recommend Googling it but be warned, it’ll probably bum you out.) But sometimes you don't need to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders. If you need to get rid of something, do it in a way that makes the most sense to your time, resources, and even sometimes your mental health. Right? And while I'd love for my clothing to be worn and loved by its next owner, perhaps even more than it was by me, there's no way I can control that.

Whether I pass hand-me-downs to a loved one or a specialized charity, or just throw it in a bin at a donation center, I can never guarantee that the perfect owner for that item will or will not come along.

My professional interests focus on helping people understand why they collect and keep the stuff in their lives. And when this example popped into my life, I knew it was an experience that I wanted to share with you. If you have things that are ready to go, but they're hanging around because getting rid of them somehow means more work or more stress, I implore you to take a step back, reevaluate your ultimate goals, and get the stuff out the door. Don't build walls and barriers simply because you're trying to be a better person. Sometimes it's okay to just get rid of stuff. I have a lot going on right now as I'm sure you do as well, so right now, I will NOT be separating my old jewelry for one organization or children's clothing for another. I also have a bunch of books to donate, (including some books that people might actually want, like kids books) but they've been in my garage for a long time. And what I've decided to finally do, is just walk them over to a neighbor's little free library that they have in their front yard, instead of driving them across town to a book drive I recently heard about. The book drive is for a good cause, but again, there are rules and parameters and timeframes and right now, I don’t have it in me to jump through any hoops. Cleaning out the house is enough hoops.

Because sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, and sometimes that means getting rid of stuff the easy way.

What are your thoughts on this? Should I have persevered? Have you had a similar experience? I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s episode. I invite you to subscribe to my podcast and once again, you can see everything Exhibitsmith is up to Exhibitsmith.com, including grabbing yourself some free, downloadable resources. Thanks for listening - I’m already looking forward to the next episode.