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I remember when I first moved into my little garage apartment next door to my daughter and her family’s home.

She had renovated it for me in peaceful shades of lilac and light gray. It was so warm and cozy that she found herself using it as a haven from the loud male energy filling her home.

My grandsons could be heard laughing and screaming as they attempted to slay the latest video game dragons while my son-in-law filled the kitchen with banging pots and pans as he created his next culinary masterpiece (one of the perks of living next door to them).

On a recent visit, she stopped at the doorway and looked around. “Mom,” she says, “it looks like an episode of ‘Hoarders’ in here.”

I looked around, seeing the chaos through her eyes. Stacks of books and magazines were piled on every available surface. Boxes of art supplies and writing materials cast about in disarray, souvenir bags filled with mementos from recent travels, and blankets of every color and texture, all taking up what little space remained.

With more years behind me than in front of me, I could feel her mind churning with stressed thoughts of having to sort through all of my belongings after I am gone. So I smiled and agreed and told her I would get to work on it. She told me to think of it as spring cleaning and find the joy in opening it all up, like a breath of fresh air.

So I flung open the doors and windows, turned up my 70s rock and roll music, and I began the decluttering process.

I had read some articles and watched some YouTube videos and thought it was going to be a piece of cake. I found that having a piece of cake was a great distraction as was just daydreaming. This was not going to be a quick task.

As I stared at all my precious treasures, each of them holding a past memory or the hope of a future one, I got a little emotional. I could do this, but it was going to have to be baby steps. After all, Rome wasn’t built (or destroyed) in one day.

I gathered together all the vast knowledge of the internet.

These are the things that I found worked for me:

1. Hold each item in your hand. Does it bring you joy or a sense of purpose? If it does, find a special place for it! If not, throw it away. Undecided? Go to step two.

2. If you are unsure if you want to keep the item (perhaps you are thinking it might have a purpose in the future), then place a piece of tape on it, write the date on the tape, and place it in a box to be considered again in a few months. Return to the “future” box in three months. If you haven’t found a use for it by that time, then it is time to let it go.

3. Remove at least one item from your home every day. Give these items to friends who might enjoy them, donate them to nursing homes, nonprofit resale shops or animal shelters. Side note, I found myself taking hard to part with belongings into my daughter’s house with the good intention that she might have a use for them. She quickly scolded me about just transferring all my junk into her space. Be sure you are giving it to someone or someplace that actually wants or needs it.

4. Find a dedicated place for everything. As I tossed clothes and belongings that I had not used in years, more storage space opened up for my treasures. Empty drawers and shelves were quickly filled with art supplies and writing materials to be pulled out when I was inspired and put away when I was ready to move on to something else. My cozy winter blankets found a home in storage cubes and placed under my bed until next season.

5. And now to the hard part: books. I tend to keep every book I have ever read, although I don’t typically reread them. The letting go process with my books has been a difficult one. I finally convinced myself that giving them away to others who might appreciate them was a gift to all of us. I could relive each one by sharing my experience with the new reader.

6. Clean the floors, launder the curtains, and dust the furniture. Place fresh daffodils on the coffee table.

And voila! Not only was my living space fresh and light and spacious, I also felt lighter and brighter and ready for the beautiful sunny days ahead. I learned letting go of physical items and clearing actual space had the added side effect of helping me to release emotions I had been holding in and hanging onto way past their expiration date.

The hibernating months will return soon enough with their cozy blankets and warm fires made for cocooning.

Until then I will celebrate the joys of Spring and the transformation that the season brings to all the parts of us.

“ Let it all go. Something beautiful wants to grow in its place.” ~ Unknown

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