Make the stuff stuff-less
"I've reclaimed my life. I have eliminated the last 40 years of the waste in my life." Note, she did not say she'd eliminated her life , or her memories , but the WASTE in her life. Mary is a dear friend who I think of as The Second The Hallmark Store. She was clearing things out a few years ago (it has been a long process). She fully admits she has a mantra - she won't send anybody a card, although she buys cards. So I happily, and freely, took collections of blank, gorgeous cards, and wonderful unopened notes from her own Hallmark Store. There were 100's of cards! And I used them. This recent go-round, she actually tossed over 19 years of received, one-way correspondence, out the door and into recycling. She's the neatest collector of all things once valuable: like college papers (her own for her undergraduate degree and for her Masters); and college brochures and curriculum books, because she had a business as a college adviser (for