Here are a few of my favorite resources that support the importance of storytelling in general and particularly in rightsizing and minimalizing.
As you hunt for story treasures, you’ll find items you’d prefer to “keep” through storytelling and photographs or benefit others through donations or sales. Scroll down for a list of folks who can help.
On the Power of Storytelling generally
The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self Dan P. McAdams, PhD (The Guilford Press, 1993). In this seminal work, narrative psychologist Dan McAdams posits that we shape our lives through our personal stories or myths that give us meaning and identity. McAdams, chair of the Psychology Department at Northwestern University, is known for his belief that by understanding and reconstructing our past stories, we can gain understanding of where we wish to go in the future.
The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed with Happiness, Emily Esfahani Smith (Crown Books 2017). In this more general book on well-being, Smith, a positive psychology expert, finds that storytelling, like belonging, purpose and transcendence is one of the four pillars that we rely on to find fulfillment because it shows us our place in the world and our impact on others.
Hidden Brain Podcast Healing 2.0: Change Your Story. Psychologist Jonathon Adler, who believes in the power of storytelling, notes that where we place the chapter breaks in a series of life events can determine whether the story is seen as redemptive or corrosive (?). He talks about how to integrate life events into our life stories and how we can accommodate unexpected events to reshape our existing story. Adler believes our physical well-being is affected by the stories we tell ourselves. More about Adler at https://www.jonathan-adler.com
The Power of Stories in Rightsizing
Keep the Memories, Love The Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life, Matt Paxton (Portfolio/Penguin 2022) In this comprehensive guide to decluttering, veteran professional organizer Paxton lists storytelling as “by far the most crucial step that creates a pathway for all the others” and notes that regardless, the storytelling step is often missed. He exalts the power of storytelling in his PBS TV series “Legacy List.”
Let It Go: Downsizing Your Way to a Richer, Happier Life, Peter Walsh (Rodale Books/Random House 2017) Walsh urges downsizers to surround themselves with a manageable number of treasured items that evoke a joyful emotional response and notes that our homes have great power to affect our mindsets. Toward that end, he includes exercises that help us pull the stories out of a set number of treasures.
Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling, PhD (Basic Books 2009). Gosling, a University of Texas professor who specializes in personal and social psychology, plays detective by linking personal possessions and décor to one’s personality. Notably, he considers the work of narrative psychologist Dan McAdams in finding that people’s stuff can be a clue to the stories they tell about themselves to give their lives purpose and meaning and in turn reveal their identities.
“How to Practice” by Ann Patchett (New Yorker Vol. 97, Issue 3, March 8, 2021, pp 16-22). In this article, the novelist and her husband Karl VanDevender begin to practice letting go of stuff after a friend’s father died and left her with a house full of memorabilia. It’s smooth-going until Patchett considers giving away her long-abandoned manual typewriter to a little girl who wanted one. She and her husband find it easier to offload the stuff linked to previous identities.
How Stories Work with Minimalizing
Keep The Memories, Lose The Stuff by Matt Paxton (Portfolio 2022). Anyone who’s watched the PBS show Legacy List will not be surprised that in this largely how-to organizing book, Paxton hones in on the importance of finding the stories in the stuff. He encourages letting go of what’s no longer useful and identifying the items worth keeping. A long-time extreme cleaning expert, he was also featured on the hit A&E show Hoarders and is now the national decluttering and downsizing expert for AARP and Goodwill Industries International.
The Stories We Leave Behind: A Legacy-Based Approach to Dealing with Stuff by Laura H. Gilbert (CreateSpace 2018). Gilbert has created a detailed guide for spotting themes and stories in our stuff and then applying writing techniques, such as screenwriting, for drawing out the stories. A focus is deciding whether items that remain – for example, furniture, books, or kitchen items – leave behind the story we’d like to tell about our lives. She also includes activities and prompts suitable for family gatherings or book groups.
The life-changing magic of tidying up by Maria Kondo (Ten Speed Press, 2014). The now-famous Kon-Mari Method centers on holding each object and asking whether you love it. Kondo cautions downsizers against holding on to the past or fearing the future by holding onto sentimental objects. Although she doesn’t linger on storytelling, she notes that by holding on to each object before making a decision, the downsizer processes the past and puts the past in order so that it’s possible to move forward. In that way, she mirrors the thinking of Dan McAdams.
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki (W.W. Norton & Company, 2017). Sasaki offloaded 95 percent of his “stuff,” including all his books, a 42-inch TV and full home theater set-up, to live minimally in a 215-square-foot apartment in Tokyo. Sasaki, a Maria Kondo fan, says minimizing should be the top priority as we discard anything that doesn’t spark joy. As for sentimental objects, he goes a bit farther, believing it’s the memories you can recall without keeping the object that are the important ones, and that saying goodbye strengthens the memories. To make the whole process easier, he offers 55 specific tips for saying goodbye.
Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More by Courtney Carver (Tarcher Perigree 2017) Following an MS diagnosis, Carver started on a path of decluttering her calendar and her stuff, and letting more love and present memories into her life. She offers a three-step process for letting go of sentimental stuff: (1) saving this most difficult part till last, (2) sharing stories about the stuff, either in writing or through a recording, and (3) finally, doing what she calls as “victory lap,” taking the item out for one last , loving use before discarding it. Her simplification process included “Project 333,” wearing only 33 items of clothing for three months.
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone. You Can…
Hire a Storyteller
Stories of a Life can provide professional assistance in documenting your life stories. For those awash in family photos, there’s personal assistance plus an especially strong section on resources to tame them.
Familyography also offers photo-taming help and has a Columbus location in Clintonville.
Home Video Studio offers a huge array of video services, express service and free pickup/delivery.
Hire a Senior Move Manager or Professional Organizer
Although there’s overlap, professional organizers typically help clear existing space and move managers deal not only with offloading excess items but also the move itself. Senior move managers are specially trained in handling the challenges of moving the elderly from their existing homes into other housing.
To find a senior move manager, visit the National Association of Senior Move Managers online.
To find a certified professional organizer in your area, visit the sites for National Association of Professional Organizers and the American Society of Professional Organizers.
Sell that “good stuff the kids don’t want”
Auction Ohio: Will review your items and place sell-ables up for online bid, giving you a portion of the proceeds.
Everything But The House: Also reviews items and places sell-ables up for online bid, with shared proceeds.
Grandview Mercantile: Takes selected items on consignment and sells from a brick-and-mortar location in Grandview
Donate historical and specialty items
Ohio Historical Connection Registrar’s Office is the contact point for donating items of historical significance to Ohio.
Music Columbus sponsors an annual Gift of Music musical instrument drive in late summer/early fall, where gently used or new instruments, amplifiers, and other music accessories. Columbus area schools, after-school programs and other affiliate non-profits receive the donations.
Donate everything but the kitchen sink
Google is your best friend in finding organizations near you, such as Goodwill and Salvation Army, who will accept and even pick up donations and provide a receipt for tax purposes. Reportedly especially helpful in Columbus is The Discovery Shop, benefitting the American Cancer Society. It accepts silver pieces as donations and even cleans them for you.
Commission artwork
Some artists are willing to create custom pieces from your treasures, such as jewelry. One who specializes in this work, including shadowboxes, is Shaq Jones of Youngstown, Ohio. You can email her at shaqjones@msn.com
Animate pictures
Procreate Dreams, an iPad app, allows you to create animations, videos and stories from ordinary pictures and pass them along as memorable gifts.
