Simply..a question....

10/3/2018

What do you do with papers going back years?

I can handle the bank statements, bills etc (I mostly follow Marie Kondo's advice to get rid of them) but cannot decide about more personal papers - morning pages, diary pages, letters and cards, random notes and thoughts - I seem to have a lot of this kind of thing. Notes I made for my dissertation for example. I look at them and remember how much I enjoyed the many quiet hours of research in the libraries, the academic life. I listed the books I hoped to go back to for another read...

But what should I do with them?

I've just discovered The Sweetness Of Things Half Remembered.

Nice.

46 mins.

17 Comments

Madeleine

11/3/2018 05:15:35 pm

When you hold them, do they spark joy? Are you likely to look through them again, or would a photo of some items be enough to bring back happy memories?

When I was younger I had a habit of destroying my diaries. I was worried someone would read them, and in fact as a teenager a family member read very personal material from my diary which was traumatic. However, I now sometimes wonder what was in those diaries and how my ideas have changed over time.

Bottom line, do what makes you happy :-)

Madeleine.x

Freda

12/3/2018 04:56:23 pm

I forget that simple spark joy question sometimes. I did think on how I have changed when I was reading some of these things. I need to just select some for now..thanks Medeleine.

cathy

11/3/2018 05:39:26 pm

agree with madeleine. when I look back at papers, some still make me happy - those go in the 'keep' pile. others, not so much & out they go.

Freda

12/3/2018 04:56:58 pm

Selection is the thing!

Lotta link

12/3/2018 03:22:17 am

I have a small box of treasured cards/letters/memories that spark joy, and have let go of most of the rest now. And feel better for it. Even the things that I had kept for years because they reminded me of the person I used to be, once I had burnt them, left a space for the person I am now. And it turns out that was all I really wanted - that connection with myself. But it has been a process over time, not done in one fell swoop. And we are all different...

Freda

12/3/2018 04:58:29 pm

It is a process over time and I need to allow for that and not feel it must all be dealt with at once. It's a delicate task.

Lucille link

12/3/2018 06:36:31 am

It's a difficult one. I have just this weekend opened the box of letters which I have been avoiding for years. With my husband's approval I have read and then shredded his letters. He didn't even want to read them, although I read a few bits out to him. We decided we didn't want our sons to read them or have to make decisions about them and as Lotta says so succinctly, yes they reminded me of the person I used to be but now they have gone have left a space for the person I am now. The diaries still wait, but other letters from family, less contentious ones, have been sorted a little better and tied into bundles for another day. This isn't a quick task. I think I'll feel better when they are drastically reduced. Lord help me when I start looking at photos!

Freda

12/3/2018 05:01:09 pm

Thank you for sharing Lucille. I am reaching the point of knowing I can let a lot go...I like the idea of space for who I am now, and of them not being a difficulty for my daughters.

cath

12/3/2018 11:31:59 am

Recently I shredded my diaries from 2008/2017. Those of years before had gone already. Quite a few held morning pages as well as random thoughts. It was easy after becoming aware I would not reread them.
I am still undecided about letters, cards and writings and photographs however.

Freda

12/3/2018 05:02:45 pm

I am interested that it was easy Cath! And that you do it in phases...

Cristiana

12/3/2018 11:45:25 am

A really hard call... I choose to keep so much...I like having the mementos, even not the joyful ones, which may not make sense but what can I say? I did gather them in a box with a note mentioning it's not valuable to anyone but me, so it should be tossed when I die, after I read on of your posts on the subject. I feel selfish but I won´t leave much and hope the person who will deal with them will forgive me. Perhaps I'll change my mind in the meanwhile. One thing you could consider is to digitalize your papers. The fact that you have to do something about in order to keep it helps to decide if you really want to keep them or you're just unsure about disposing it.
(oh, maybe I should follow this advice!!!)

Freda

12/3/2018 05:05:28 pm

Two things strike me - what a good idea to leave a note saying they are only valuable to me, and some I know I would not bother to digitalize - so that really helps me decide. Thanks for those good ideas!

Madeleine

13/3/2018 02:59:36 pm

What a good idea to leave a note, it means that our papers do not become a burden to those left with them. This option to leave a note has lightened my mind.

Madeleine.x

Damsonlily

13/3/2018 02:46:26 pm

Tricky one and very relevant to me as we are (still) trying to move house.
Morning pages are stream of consciousness writings for me, so I would not want anyone else to find those. They have helped me in the past but relate to events that are over and thoughts that are done with.
They will be shredded apart from the current book.
But I also have my father’s diary from some of the years he spent in N. Africa in WW2. And my mother’s City & Guilds Dressmaking course work from the 1930’s. These are for my grandchildren.
I think the question I am asking myself is not ‘does it spark joy?’ with these particular items but ‘does it matter?’

Freda

14/3/2018 04:39:55 am

Yes. Does it matter only to you and if it does it could go in a box marked thus making it easier for someone else to dispose of it without angst....Such treasures for your grandchildren!

Julia

14/3/2018 01:19:44 pm

I am enjoying this music so much freda..and as for my “past” papers...no they don’t mean much to me..i’m not sentimental about “previous versions” of myself...:-) it’s super easy to let that go...now...old photos of ancestors..HARD to part with! But even photos of me at various phases of life...if i don’t like it..out it goes!

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