Gifts and their "Emotional Weight"

By Krissy Warlich

Have you ever had anyone in your life who loves to give you tangible gifts?

For many of us, sometimes there is an unexpected additional gift when receiving them...

an "Emotional Weight".

This can be quite the conundrum for those who are in the process of regular decluttering, piling up donation items, sorting and organizing.

As nice as the gesture may be of receiving a gift, sometimes there is a heaviness that comes with it. The sense of immediately feeling overwhelmed thinking..."Where am I going to put this?" or "Is this something I will even use?"

Now, none of us want to ever come off as ungrateful in any way for any gift we receive, as the item could be given from the heart and possibly serve a useful purpose in your home or in your life.

My husband and I recently received an influx of gifts and it is not even close to Christmas time or any birthdays. My kind mother-in-law enjoys going to the casino to get out of the house a few times a month and when she goes, she seems to always come home with free giveaways and promotional items, which in turn are typically given to me and my hubby. We started getting them so often, that they were piling up and we would have to decide if we plan to edit some existing kitchen items to make room for these new gifts or if we plan to donate or re-gift.

Now, me personally, I am an emotional and sentimental human, who feels emotions deeply and sometimes the gesture of receiving a gift alone sits heavy on my heart and I usually try to make room in my home for thoughtful or useful gifts/items. In contrast to my hubby, who is very much a minimalist with very little attachment to the tangible things. So, in addition to receiving the actual gift in its physical form and weight, I also carry the burden of the emotional weight. Some may call it by its formal name of "Guilt".

Ways to solve the issue:

1. Take an inventory.

   Start by placing all of the gifted items together in a pile so that you can see the amount and magnitude of what you are in possession of. This may also include taking regularly stocked items out of cabinets and drawers to be able to take an inventory of all items.

   
   

2. Determine which items really serve you and your lifestyle.

   This is hard for some, but you need to look at each item individually and ask yourself if this is adding a positive purpose into your life or is it bringing on feelings of negativity and guilt? Deep down you know the answer and really pay attention to any initial feelings of either happiness and how the item can benefit you, or any initial feelings of anxiety and thoughts of... "Where the heck am I going to store this?". If you find yourself saying phrases like "I might be able to use this someday" chances are that you probably wont.

   
   

3. Execution of use (Keep, Donate or Re-gift)

   It really comes down to the execution of actually finding time in your busy life and finding the reason to make good use of it in your life and on a regular basis.

   Any item that just sits on a shelf or in a cabinet for years, is that item truly serving you?

   Rid yourself of any items that carry a negative emotional weight and see how much "Lighter" you actually feel.

Sincerely,

Sort~n~Sweet