Free Minimalist Living: Decluttering for Joy, Health, and Creativity by Genevieve Parker Hill Page A

section, then blaze on through. Select the essentials and put the rest in a bag or box for sorting, which we’ll discuss in just a moment.
    If you have chosen the gaze method, you're going to ask yourself a set of questions about each item:
     
Is this something that adds pleasure in the form of beauty or sensual enjoyment to my life?
Is this useful to me in my daily life? My weekly life? My monthly or yearly life?
Is this something that adds meaning to my life?
     
    If the answer to all three questions is “yes,” then it’s probably an essential item.
    Everything in our homes should be either useful, meaningful, or pleasurable, and preferably all three. Some organizing experts use the term “beautiful” instead of pleasurable, but I wanted to widen the concept. Beauty brings pleasure, but connotes only pleasure to sight – just one of many senses. The word “pleasurable” can describe something that pleases the sense of smell, touch, or hearing. Asking “does this item bring me pleasure?” can keep us from getting rid of something that isn’t necessarily an aesthetic marvel, but still adds a great deal to our daily life.
    “ Useful” refers to the item’s functionality in our life. Does it serve a utilitarian purpose? Useful items are the most likely to be those that we use daily or weekly. Examples of these items are a computer, a laundry machine, and a can opener. It’s unlikely that these are your most beautiful items, but if you're lucky and selective, form and function sometimes find their way together in useful items.
    Meaningful it ems are the trickiest territory because “meaning” is different for everyone. The kind of items we are referring to when we say “meaningful” are cherished family heirlooms, beloved gifts, and anything else that contributes to a sense of heritage, memory, connection, or continuity with the past. Meaningful items are more than just sentimental items. Some people can get sentimental about anything: the wine cork from dinner last night; the heart-shaped box that came with the Valentine’s Day chocolates; every item previously owned by a deceased relative; the fuzzy green sock that lost its mate; and the list goes on. If I’ve just described you, know that I can relate. I don’t mean to undervalue our tender emotions and nostalgia. Having strong emotional associations makes life richer and makes relationships deeper and more meaningful. Simply acknowledge that just because something brings up strong emotions or memories doesn’t mean you have to keep it.
    There are ways to keep the emotional heart of an object as well as its connection to the past without having to keep the thing itself. Instead of keeping everything that has sentimental value, keep only the things – often they will be symbols of certain time periods or accomplishments – that truly have the deepest meaning to you and provide you with joy when you see them. Why keep things around that make you feel sad, guilty, stressed, resentful, bitter, or inadequate? Take control of the emotional energy around you by carefully selecting meaningful items to have on display.
    Analyze exactly how your meaningful items make you feel. If there are strains of negative emotions within an item, get rid of it. For some reason I kept a letter from an old romantic interest for a long time. Things didn’t work out, and he poured out his broken heart into the letter. Reading it made me feel guilty and sad. Yet I kept it for years, out of guilt for unintentionally hurting him and to remind myself how important it was to be careful with peoples’ hearts. I would re-read it, want to throw it away, and keep it for some reason, unable to let go and forgive myself. Finally, I realized that I was only torturing myself, and got rid of it. Don’t hold onto things to feel guilty, teach yourself a lesson, or remember past pain. If you felt the pain, the lesson got in – don’t worry about that. If you hurt someone, ask