When I was a child, I was spoiled rotten. My parents had a dual income that they apparently chose to spend on toys and collectibles for my brother and I. We had a huge room above our garage dedicated to only our toys. In retrospect, it was ridiculous – but of course we loved it.

As I grew, things changed. My parents got divorced and we had to move. All our toys and collectibles went into boxes and moved with us as both my mom and dad changed houses every year. Those boxes stayed with my parents until I graduated college. Then, I chose to take everything my parents were storing when I moved to Silicon Valley.

Turns out, having those boxes sit around is a huge burden. They are always at the back of my mind and any time I try to make a big decision, they get in the way. “Should I get a rug to bring the place together? No, I should go through the boxes first.”; “Should I get a bike to commute to work? No, I should go through the boxes”. The boxes give me some form of decision paralysis, so I am finally deciding to go through them.

The majority of the boxes are filled with old toys and stuffed animals. After reading Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I decided it would be best to donate these things to Goodwill. Now, I’m left with collectibles and gifts from relatives – a lot of them are still in their original packaging. These are harder to deal with: they’re probably worth some money, they have a nice handwritten note on the packaging, and they’re from someone who loves me.

But I’m not interested in these collectibles. I’m not going to display them, I don’t want them, and they’re taking up space – both physically and mentally. I almost feel cursed. Why did my parents choose to keep these collectibles wrapped up for twenty years? Why am I dealing with them now? Did they feel too guilty to get rid of them, but too scared to display them?^[1]

I’ve decided to do something with them. For the collectibles that I actually enjoy (there are only one or two), I’m going to unwrap them and display them. They’re not giving me any happiness sitting in a box – they’re much better on display where I can see them everyday. Most importantly, I’m going to throw away the box.

For the collectibles that I don’t enjoy, I’m going to take a quick stab at selling them on eBay and Craigslist. If they don’t sell in a couple weeks, I’ll donate them. I’ll forget about them a few weeks after and I will be burden-free.

I’m going to start applying this philosophy to other collectible-like things: stickers, books, greeting cards. If they’re sitting in a box, use them or lose them.