Office Closets

decluttering your home - why do people seem to want to throw other people's stuff away but not their own?

i was watching one of those tv programs where people ask to have their homes decluttered. the organizer comes in and *forces* them to throw away anything that is not important or valuable to the organizer regardless of how precious it is to the owner. many posessions are priceless, perhaps if only for the sentimental value. some items are family heirlooms saved for generations to be passed to the next. some are just tangible expressions of our individuality and who we are. others we have just because we like them. why would it be ok for people to throw away everything of personal value to someone else just because they ask for help decluttering and organizing? some things are completely irreplaceable like a gift from a child who has since died. just because something has no value to you doesn't mean it has no value to me and vice versa. how would you feel and what would you do if it happened to you? not asking for help is the obvious answer but what if you really need the help? ok, i understand that stuff is really just stuff, but what about the gifts you put a lot of time and thought and perhaps money into? is it ok to throw all those away too, even though they came from you? if you know a gift is just going to be discarded, why give it? also, why is it so hard when the tables are turned and the people throwing other people's stuff away can't seem to part with their own?

Public Comments

1. I really wouldn't mind about that. I personally have my heirlooms in storage as it is. so..... In the same show a few couples have brought that up. and where allowed to keep that kind of stuff. They would also asked to choose what they wanted to stay
2. It's not the item that makes a memory, it's the memory itself. The item just takes up space.