If you’re a Sentimental Saver, this is for you

I am a fairly sentimental person, I admit it! I enjoy reliving memories from my childhood, my college years and the nearer-but-rapidly-fading childhoods of my kids. Fortunately, I have mostly happy memories of all my eras and it’s fun to visit them from time to time. While it’s tempting to be a sentimental saver of all the things from those eras, I resist. Why? They take up a lot of room. They usually require storage in some hard-to-reach area of the house where they languish, collecting dust. And so often they end up forgotten, in direct opposition to why they were saved in the first place.

Over the years I have fashioned a much better set of solutions for transporting myself to bygone eras. I do keep a curated collection of physical items. Mostly things I actively use or display, but also some letters, momentos and journals that fit neatly in boxes I can easily access. But most of my reveries come from sources that take up little to no room at all, and yet can take me back to a memory instantly. If you are a sentimental saver who keeps things because you want to remember, I offer you some alternatives to consider. Instead of saving a bunch of clutter, try these!

Photos: The story of your life

Photos are my favorite keeper of memories. The clothes I wore, the people I loved, the houses I lived in, the toys my kids played with. It’s all captured in photos. Most of mine, even the old ones and the ones I got from my parents are now digitized, so they are easy to access and share. When I’m missing my mom, who died 6 years ago, I can scroll through her pictures. When I’m having a blue moment in my empty nest, I pull up pics of the kids when they were little and life was so busy I couldn’t stop for breath. I can share a pic from Spring break in the Bahamas in my college friend group chat and take us back to our youth.

If there is one thing that transports us back in time better than anything else, it’s photos. Put some effort into organizing and digitizing yours and you won’t feel the need to be a sentimental saver of all your old stuff. If you need some help in this area I have a Free Download with lots of resources to get you started!

Music: The Soundtrack of your life

The other day on a Peloton ride the instructor played Mr. Jones by Counting Crows and I was instantly transported back to 1993. I was living in Washington DC, not sure what I wanted to do but surrounded by friends from college and from my childhood. We were all young, busy and full of energy. I listened to the album August and Everything After on repeat during those years.

Music is the backdrop of all my eras. Play Chicago and I’m walking my Cocker Spaniel around our block with my walkman on. Play Prince and I’m at the Let’s Go Crazy dance in High School. Or Maroon 5 and I’m driving my youngest to a soccer game on a cold and rainy Saturday. Music can remind you of people, places and things. So you don’t need to be a sentimental saver, you just need to fire up Spotify!

People: The Best Memories + Key to Happiness

I’m realizing I misspoke slightly when I stated that photos are my favorite way to experience memories. My true favorite is spending time with the people who share them. Obviously photos work better when the person you love is no longer with you, but when you want to go back in time, it’s most fun with a friend!

Investing time and effort in relationships is the best thing you can do to keep memories alive. And they are so good for your mental health! The world’s longest running study on happiness concluded that relationships are the key to happiness. Not money, not career success, not family circumstances, though they all play a role. (If you’d like to learn about the study, The Good Life is a fantastic read!)

So connecting with a friend or relative and sharing stories is a great way to remember. So much better than saving all the things. Transforming from a sentimental saver of things to a treasurer of relationships is a much richer experience and takes up no room in your house!

Maybe bookmark this blog for the next time you’re decluttering and get stuck on your memorabilia. IT will help you remember there is more than one way to hold your memories close!