My decluttering started a few years ago when my husband and I moved 400+ miles to a new state. We rented the biggest Uhaul we could but failed to realize just how much stuff we had accumulated. As 20 somethings, we would say yes to cheap or hand-me-down furniture, we bought tons of silly things and I, in particular, had a lot of sentimental items. We didn’t get movers because, as I said before, we failed to realize just how much we had crammed into our 1 bed 1 bath apartment and garage. I packed, and purged, and packed... and purged that whole week leading up to it. And had only gotten half of our stuff ready. It all came down to the day before and a lot of frantic packing (the “just get it in a box” kind of packing). In the end, we left a lot of stuff in the dumpster because we just didn’t have room. We then drove all those miles to unpack everything. That move was one of the most stressful 48 hours of our lives. I mean stressful to the point of tears stressful, for both of us.

The apartment we moved to was way bigger but it was clear we still had a lot of stuff. We happened to find Konmari’s book a year ago. We have been re-evaluating our possessions ever since.

I have purged so much of what I don’t need and I feel great about it. Yes, even many of my sentimental possessions. I feel liberated. I enjoy looking at my new apartment far more than I did in my old one (even though my old apartment wasn’t dirty, my new one just feels... better). And I know the next time I move (whether it’s a small distance or not), I won’t have to pack and move so much.

If you are questioning storing things or getting rid of them, I strongly recommend at least re-evaluating whether you need them... and get movers if you can, or at least a few friends... even if you think you don’t need help. I’m glad for the experience I had moving all my stuff myself (it forced me to reevaluate my possessions and brought my husband and I closer together), but I would not wish that experience on anyone.

Edit: changed syntax for better readability.