MEMORY BOX 101 🎨 » what's in a KEEPSAKE BOX, keep sentimental items vs. let go - WHAT TO DECLUTTER!?

The tortoise my mother hand-stitched all night on Christmas eve when I randomly said that Santa was bringing me "a little black lamb and a tortoise." This was the first time I'd mentioned anything about a tortoise. So she raided her box of scrap fabric and stayed up all night sewing a tortoise. I will keep it forever.

My teddy bear! 🧸 We are 51 years old, I’ll never let him go.

I've had to evacuate my home several times due to the threat of wildfires. Even though my house has not burned down (yet) I know how fragile stuff is. So I've scanned and photographed all my memories (photos and items) so I can walk away from my home without looking back or risking my life trying to rescue a possession.

My mom passed away when I was 24 and 17 weeks pregnant with my first baby. I inherited her wedding ring (so gracious of my dad to let me have it) and wear it as my wedding ring.

Omg!!!! You are amazing!!! I come from a home where my mom saved every single item that her mother touched. She passed these things on to me and made me feel like I had to keep, save and never use or touch these things because these items belonged to her. I have kept these things for now almost forty years. I’ve moved it over and over and felt guilty if I even thought about getting rid of these things. At 56 years old, I’m finally to the place that I can let go of things. After my mom died, two years ago, I know it sounds crazy, but I finally felt free to begin letting these things go. Thank you for your channel!!!!!

I was decluttering my mother's house months after she passed away, and I found a little notebook she kept from when I was a baby. She wrote a lot of things about my birth, about picking my name, my first words, my first birthdays, things I did and loved when I was a toddler, things she loved about me and made her laugh. I cried for hours reading it, and I know I'll never get rid of it. I'm glad that I decided to declutter, or I would've never found it!

I used to keep everything sentimental but lately after decluttering non sentimental items I have managed to dissociate the item from the person and I feel so much lighter having let go of the stuff xx

I forgot to mention my prized item(s): My grandparents were very active family historians, and I have a very un-fancy red binder with all of the photos glued onto paper with their handwritten notes about family history. I also have a Civil War reunion booklet from my great grandfather (who fought and survived a famous battle). As a historian (PhD level), these family history-related items are invaluable and remind me so much of happy hours at my grandparents' house talking about these histories.

My son's hand print & the cards he gave me. Unexpectedly lost Paul October of 2020 and it truly is a life sentence of grieve. It will hit you when you least expect. But slowly the memories make me smile and often laugh ~ hugs sweet Marissa !

Be careful with throwing out the yearbooks. When I was younger I never looked at them. But now, when I am in my sixties, I go back and look at them , especially if I am trying to remember who someone is.

I love my memory box. I go through it once a year at least to check what’s in there is meant to be there. It’s a hug in a box x

Oh, Sweet Marissa! I can tell you’re struggling right now. Big hugs from me! Sentimental stuff is all I have left to declutter. I have it all in about 15 bins, which is wasaayyyy down! I’m working on it bin by bin. Thank you for these ideas on how to deal with it all. Hugs!

This is one of my favorite videos from any creator, ever. I watched all your content years ago as I began my own decluttering journey (so inspiring btw) but I was too embarrassed to even "like" your videos! Fast forward to rewatching them as I am in a different place in my declutting journey. I am so over feeling guilty and sad for having other people's stuff in my space. I will "like" whatever inspires me, helps me feel joy and teaches me I am worth a beautiful, uncluttered home and life.

I'm the type of person that keeps little memory pieces like tickets to events and hotel cards and sucks. Especially in partner relationships. I recently saw this cool idea of putting these small memory pieces into a binder with clear pockets (specifically those clear pockets that have already been divided smaller). It worked out so well and my partner really loved seeing all our little memories together. ❤ we plan on putting a few pictures in to go with some of the collected items. You can decorate the outside to make it really pretty to go on a bookshelf so you can easily pull it out and enjoy it. And if the relationship doesn't work out you can always reuse the pockets later haha 😆

I have the letters my father wrote to me when I was 7 and he was working overseas for 6 months - they're falling apart from age and frequent reading now, but I'll never get rid of them. I have two memory boxes (both about 1 foot square), one is a wooden one I inherited from my grandmother and the other is a decorative cardboard one given to me by a dear friend. I love that my memories are stored in things that are themselves memories! If anyone is struggling to let go of items after a bereavement - give yourself time. When my father died 8 years ago, I couldn't even bear to throw out his last shopping list. Now, apart from the letters in my memory box, I just have half a dozen items which belonged to him, all of which are in regular use around the house. Being able to let go of a deceased person's belongings is part of the grieving process and it can't be rushed x

My most treasured item belonging once to my Mom is her diary from HS when she & my Father were dating. I cherish it tremendously. She passed away summer of 2020, and I do not have a relationship with my Father. This diary is the only real memory that helps me deal with these losses. It’s the only thing that proves my parents once loved one another. That’s more precious than rubies. ❤

A gold bracelet that is made from melted down heirloom family jewelry. It also features a ruby (my birthstone). I used to keep it put away for "special occasions" only until I realized I was never wearing it. I put it on one day and haven't taken it off since!

I actually never knew that memory boxes was such a widespread thing! I don't know anyone who has one. But after I had children I got a box for each of them where I put in their awards, ticket stubs (only first occasion ones) and various items that symbolise a major event in their life. Now that my youngest child's dad has passed away, he has a second memory box where he keeps special items from his dad's life

This is such important information, and so unique. I don’t see anyone else, taking this deep of dive into emotional hoarding. I was a minimalist for decades, before the was even a word for it, but I have been an emotional hoarder

I love minimalism, but there are 2 categories of things I can not get rid of. One is pictures of my dad. He passed away when I was 30. My older son was 3 years old, and my younger son was 3 months old. I want them to know him, and they love to hear stories about them. The other category is the books I read to my boys when they were little. They are 17 and 14 now, but every time I get the bins out to declutter, I am flooded with memories of reading to them. I remember their favorite pages and the cute things they said every time they saw a certain picture in each book, and I just can't do it! Eventually, I may feel ready to let go of some pictures or books, but I am waiting until I feel it.