Perfectly Good

This is one huge stumbling block for me in the effort to get rid of things. I have way too many things that I don’t need or want, but they are not trash. Not obviously broken, all the parts are included, it’s clean and maybe even functional. These items have little to no resale value, except maybe to a collector. However the effort to find a collector/buyer would “cost” me more in time and money than what it’s worth. These are the things that are “perfectly good”. I hang onto them because they are not junk and I don’t know what else to do with them.

Today was trash day, so as usual I was rifling through my boxes looking for a few things I could get rid of. I opened the top drawer of my dresser, which is overflowing with various things I’ve jammed in there, telling myself that I must find at least one thing in there to toss. This time it was a small hand mirror with a lucite handle that I have had forever and haven’t used in more than ten years. Gone.

Tossed a small plastic telephone line connector that was supposed to have a built-in surge suppressor. Never used it because it had to be plugged in to work, which for me was not practical. Gone.

Found a small reel with an 16mm film of people throwing a football around, which was probably a college film project that someone made 30 years ago (not me). I don’t remember where that came from. I probably picked it up when I helped someone move. No sentimental value, don’t want it for myself, and I don’t even have a projector to show it with. Gone. That was a hard one – it’s always possible that whoever gave it to me for whatever reason will one day ask me about it.

Held an old Polaroid Land camera from the 1970’s in my hands, which of course is a perfectly good camera. I don’t have any film for it, have never used it. In the original box, so a collector might want it. Didn’t throw this one away. I’ll probably try to give it to someone, or maybe to a charity. It would be faster and easier to trash it, but I can’t bring myself to toss it in the same can as real garbage. Ugh – at least I made some progress today.

Why is this blog named after a doorbell?

It’s a symbol of the problem I have with getting rid of stuff. I found this item while I was clearing out a table drawer in the basement of my parent’s house. I remembered this bakelite doorbell from my childhood. Seems like it has been around forever – unsure where it came from. I think I used it a few times when I was a kid, making electricity experiments with batteries and flashlight bulbs. Anyway, it was in the drawer with a bunch of old craft-type items which I tossed into the trash bag. Cardboard, paintbrushes, string, rusty safety-scissors. I hesitated, but tossed the doorbell in the bag too. When I was done, and about to tie the top of the bag, I looked in and saw the doorbell. I took it out of the bag and put it in my pocket. Then I tied the bag and hauled it outside. This old doorbell has no use for me at all, but it is perfectly functional. It could be used as an electric switch, and it does look cool. It’s actually made of genuine bakelite, so it has a nice retro/antique quality to it. There is no reason for me to keep it, but I do.

It’s like this with me – if something is not obviously garbage, and I judge that it COULD BE USED – even if I have no use for it, then I can’t throw it away. There are stacks of boxes here full of things that I don’t want, but I don’t know what to do with them. Old cameras, comic books, office supplies, computer cables, toys, seashells, VHS tapes, ashtrays, woodworking tools, etc. The list goes on and on.

Are you like this as well? Maybe you have some advice. Almost all of this clutter needs to go, preferably to a good home, as I truly am a tormented minimalist.

Elementary School Artwork

Made a little progress on trash night today. Looked around for something (anything!) to throw away before the trash goes out as I didn’t do any sorting this week. I had a box with a pile of old artwork and book reports from when I was in elementary school. I tossed all of it tonight, and put as much paper as I could into the recycling bin. Interesting to see some printouts of computer programs I wrote in FORTRAN and Pascal many years ago for a class. Tossed them as well, they’d never be used again. So a few pounds of paper are gone.

Also in that box were my wall calendars from years 1983-1995 or so. I could not throw these away yet. There is stuff written on them that I want to go through before I get rid of them, in case there’s some information I should remember or keep track of. Probably not, but I can’t bring myself to throw them away before I examine them – and I’m too mentally exhausted from the school papers to look at them now, so they go back in the box.