Learning to Detach

 This has been my mantra as of late. Jake and I have pared down our apartment size from over 900 square feet, two bedrooms, and extra storage to just over 500 square feet, one bedroom, and no storage.
While I’m usually more of the spontaneous one in our relationship, getting rid of things that I hold sentimental attachments to has been way more difficult for me than it has been for Jake. And honestly, it surprised me a bit. It really shouldn’t have. I’m ridiculously nostalgic. I can’t even go past the place we had our first date almost 5 years ago without sighing….This is what the last few weeks have sounded like as we packed up our things to downsize.

Me: “Jake, tell me I don’t need this thing that I’ve been holding onto since high school.”
Jake: “You don’t need that thing.”

Me: *breaths a sigh of relief, “Oh, OK.” *puts said thing in donation pile. 

And repeat.

It wasn’t terrible, but it was emotional. And all in all, I felt better when more “stuff” was gone.
We had some luck selling a few items, which was a wonderful way to make some extra money to help with the move, and also a sort of validation that others could find value in our “stuff”.   Some things we attempted to sell ended up at Goodwill as we ran out of time. That was a little disheartening, but at the end of the day, it still felt better to just be rid of the things!

We are now settling into our much smaller, cheaper, and more conveniently located home, for the next year.
We are loving our new home and new commutes! Making room in our lives by increasing time and decreasing stuff, we can focus even more on our upcoming journey.

Next steps, getting our budget and savings on-track, research into all of the vaccines we may need, and looking at ways to earn additional income over the next year!

Have you ever had a hard time detaching from things in your life?