As seen in the Dayton Daily News on April 25, 2014.
At my recent organizing seminar, one of the attendees raised her hand and asked, “When my parents passed away, my siblings gave me the responsibility of all the family photos, since I was the oldest child. Overnight, I inherited many boxes of photos that were in disarray. I have no interest in most of them. Do I have to keep them?”
My reply was, “Absolutely not.” She immediately smiled and thanked me for giving her the answer she needed to hear.
She then asked, “What do I do with them?” My advice was to let her siblings and other family members know she no longer wants the responsibility of storing the photos, then give them a deadline for when they need to pick them up. If they don’t make arrangements to get them, she was free to let them go.
After the deadline, she had a few options. If she felt comfortable giving them away, she could offer them to the historical society or antique shops, since some of the photos were very old. After that, it was perfectly fine to shred or discard the photos.
After reading this, some of you are relieved when given permission to let go of photos you have felt responsible for, while others are in a panic that I would even suggest discarding them.
If you are the latter, please realize that many people are feeling overwhelmed in their cluttered homes. They need to start taking care of their own needs and organize their homes, so they can start to bring some peace in their lives.
The best way to achieve a more organized home is to keep the things you love and need, not items someone else thinks you should save.
You have to choose how to spend your time. Do you want to make more memories or preserve past ones? For me, camping with my family and friends is much more important than scrapbooking photos of past camping trips.
To any of you who need permission to let go of burdensome photos, I give you permission without a guilt trip. If anyone complains, blame it on the organizing lady and then go spend time on what really matters to you.
