Hello – I have posted here before. Things are going much better for me these days, and wisdom from some of the folks here has been helpful. I am back because I want to take a big step. I have been widowed for over three years, and after some super tough times that yielded learning (about me), I have a sense of purpose. I am moving in that direction now, really embracing ministry, while still working full-time and raising my child. I moved into a new house two years ago and have a strong desire to unload some of the things I brought with me. I have several bins and bags of stuff. A lot of it belonged to my late wife. I’m not at all decorative, but I feel like I’m hanging on to a lot of this stuff for no real reason at all. This includes loads of photos, many of them in frames. I guarantee that most of them will remain in the plastic bins, and I guess that’s fine, but I want to make my space more efficient, and one way of doing that is inventory management – some stuff out, to make storage space for things I actually use.

I have a two-part dilemma. One is keeping things my child might want to look at down the road. I have shown the child, and they are completely uninterested. Not hostile or irritated, but I suspect they would never open the bin to see what’s in there – we have been through this a few times now. The second is time. With one full-time job and a second part-time, I have maybe 1-2 hours a week to go through stuff. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for my own enjoyment. I am wondering about hiring someone who organizes space for a living. I think I’d like that. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I already have the things that are emotional attachments for me. Yes, I am still attached to my wife and suspect that will remain the case for some time. But I’m not at all attached to a lot of the stuff she kept. And I have pretty much been through it all. I welcome your thoughts and, as always, wish everyone here well.