Priorities

When Bill told me that he wanted to limit the things we were keeping into two small sheds, I thought he was out of his mind. Well, truth be told I knew he was out of his mind already - he married me.  As we began to sort through the Black Hole, and what seemed to be an endless plethora of boxes, bags and various containers, I realized that having a goal was a good thing, otherwise, why would you get rid of anything?  Decisions had to be made. We needed to prioritize. For example: do we need to keep every single Christmas card we ever received? Do we really need to save all those holiday decorations, most of which we bought at the 99 cent store? 
Of course Bill was quick to point out that I had collected a LOT of arts and crafts items. Those should go...whoa. Hold on there, cowboy. The main reason I haven't used them (aside from raising 4 kids) is that all of it has been BURIED under all the other junk.  Yes, I am willing to thin it out. I'm not entirely unreasonable, but get rid of it all? Um...no.  So, my dilemma was, what would be my sacrificial lamb so I could keep my stamps, scrap-booking and jewelry making goodies.

Side story: I have a degree in Theater Arts. Due to a serious chronic illness at what would have been the height of my "career", I had to give it up. Still, I always hoped that someday, I'd be able to return.  Meanwhile, once a year, on Halloween I could still dress up, wear crazy make-up, and do "me".  For this purpose I started acquiring costumes, wigs, hats, masks, etc. Some I wore once or twice, but I always knew the moment I got rid of it, I would have the opportunity to dress up as a sixties hairdresser with fairy wings. Our neighbors used to throw the best Halloween parties. We had some of the greatest outfits. As the years rolled by, however, the neighbors stopped having the parties, for one reason or another, and we were always too busy to have our own. So my costumes just sat in large storage boxes, tucked away. 
Fast forward to a few years ago. A friend convince me that I should audition for a show, and then another one. I even performed in one with one of my daughters! That was very cool. Then just a few months ago, I auditioned for My Fair Lady at the Long Beach Playhouse. I didn't really think I had much of a chance but I ended up being cast as Mrs. Eynsford Hill! It's not a huge part, but I had lines! I'd finally gotten back out of the ensemble! The show was so much fun and all the people at the theater welcomed me into the "family". It was an incredible experience! 
To make a long story short, (I know, too late) I realized what I was willing to give up: my costumes! I knew that this was a place I could trust to take care of and appreciate them! It wasn't like giving them to a thrift store, where they'd all be divided up and sold in parts like beat up cars. I could pass over my vintage hats, zombie princess dress and neon shorts and they would use them, over and over. The epiphany was divine. I must admit that after dropping everything off I felt a little knot in my stomach and a little bit of loss, but I just keep reminding myself that hopefully my costumes will be used. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get to wear them again. I'm the right size, after all.
So I know I still will have to whittle down more and more to get everything into those two small sheds, but at least we've gotten one big chunk taken care of. Whew!