Last summer I was home in my parent’s house and decided to go through my old books and videos and papers and photographs. Unfortunately I discovered that my parents had moved all of my stuff to the boiler house, where the combination of moisture and heat had covered everything in a fat layer of destructive mould.
Most things were ruined – the mould had actually gotten inside the VHS cassettes and eaten the tape. I spent a day going through my magazine collections from 1987 and my Dep Leppard videos and my school notes before concluding that most of it had to be thrown away.
So I threw it away, and I felt a great sense of relief. I had been worrying about that old stuff in a vague way for years, and now it was gone and ceased to be a worry. Sure, I had lost a lot of books and notes and clutter from the 80s, but so what? Now I suddenly had less stuff in my life, and a whole lot less to think about.
Last week my Firefox browser decided to make my shortcuts and bookmarks vanish without a trace. Suddenly, without any warning, many years of carefully collected favourite links were no more. And after a brief panic I had the same feeling – shit, how nice! Now I don’t have to worry about cleaning up the big fat mess my favourites had become.
And now that they are gone, I can’t remember a single link that I want to go look at. It makes me wonder why I kept moving that big tangle of links around from computer to computer over the years, when I don’t even miss them?
It just goes to show – stuff is just stuff, and the best thing you can do with stuff is always to get rid of it.
/ paddy
Paddy K 
Yes! Här ska vara tomt på barnens tillhörigheter så fort som möjligt. Innan de hinner angripas av fukt och mögel och ghettoråttor. Därför har vi nu börjat att systematiskt rensa bland leksaker och barnböcker. I vårstädningen ryker dagispysslet! Jag vill inte bära omkring ett patetiskt förråd av gamla prylar som ingen vill ha.
Clutter is bad for the mind and a good clear-out can be very therapeutic.
Though I’m not sure how that works when it’s an involuntary clear-out of cherished stuff.
But I’d have to agree with your deep and meaningful words there…”Stuff is just stuff”.
for the lost bookmarks, maybe http://kb.mozillazine.org/Lost_bookmarks can help you.
– Tomcat
Annaa: Throw it out, girl! And your kids will be so much happier, when your time comes, to not be landed with a great mountain of crap that they have to go through.
earthpal: An involuntary clean-up is just like a normal one, but without all the work and deciding!
Tomcat: Thanks for the tip, but, you see, I don’t want the bookmarks back! The great Firey Fox took them away for a reason, and I will respect His wisdom.
Who needs bookmarks since Google came along?
I just remembered – did the entire 2000AD collection bite the bullet?
Oh yes…my mum moved it from the specially designed and constructed boxes into the small building of death. I saved some of them, but the majority…were slimed. Let us bow our heads in respect.