Let's talk about free stuff.
I have to attend a large national conference next week, and I realized I will likely be bombarded with giveaways from a million friendly vendor booths, whose staffers are eager to tell me why I should use their type of thermometer or diagnostic tool.
How many of us have a cupboard full of logo-emblazoned water bottles, pens, and bandage dispensers, which we excitedly opened our hand and tote bag (also free) to receive? Does that makes us hoarders? Not exactly, but the clutter IS a force to be reckoned with.
You CAN say no thank you; it IS okay! When I donated blood a few weeks ago, the tech thrust a bag in my hand and said "go pick something from over there to take home too!" He gestured toward a stockpile of t-shirts, coffee mugs, and cell phone protectors. I said, no thanks, I am good and left my tote bag for the next blood donor to enjoy.
Now, to be clear, I LOVE bags. Always have. But I force myself to curate my collection. When I find one I would like to welcome into my home, another has to go. It either gets donated, or I find a friend who may have liked it and off-load to him or her (usually HER, because dudes tend to use one Adidas bag for all purposes, like their whole life).
Anyway, I rejected the kind phlebotomist's offer of rewards for being punctured with a 14 gauge steel weapon, and went home to face the myriad of other free items that already live there. A beach towel from Taco Casa, a soft-sided lunch tote from an apartment we lived in 20 years ago, the list goes on and on. Clearly, marketing research says handing people crap with your logo will encourage them to buy your stuff. So much truth, that pharmaceutical companies can no longer ply us to prescribe their magic pill with the lure of a free lunch AND post-it notes for days (we still get the consumables, but no pens or binders).
One of the hallmarks of hoarders is that they cannot surrender the free stuff, like advertisement circulars (which seem like immediate recycling fodder to me) or side-of-the-road type items. Its value somehow is amplified by its lack of up front cost.
Whereas true hoarding is a psychological illness and more extreme than just facing your daily clutter, I speak about the free-ness of things because they can become malignant. Taking up space they weren't even intentionally meant to have.
So as you de-clutter, take NO shame in donating those mugs and string backpacks. I apologize to businesses everywhere for not sporting your swag and advertising for you for free. Better yet, just say no thanks next time you're at a venue where booths are offering up something you have to carry home. Remind yourself that YOU'LL be the one charged with finding an eternal resting place for those items. Don't work that hard.
