Springtime is for pollinators, blooming flowers, colorful wardrobes and tidying up. But for some households, a light touch of spring cleaning may seem more like a long-term, junk-hauling expedition.
From prized possessions and heirlooms, to broken kitchen appliances and clothes in a closet that still have a price tag, U.S. residents seem to be challenged with being overburdened with personal belongings.
According to , 1 in 40 people in the U.S. has a hoarding disorder. In fact, people ages 60 to 73 years old are most impacted by the disorder.
“Those who do not believe they have a problem with hoarding may not experience distress, but those living with or near them probably do,” co-author of 鈥淗oarding: What Everyone Needs to Know鈥 Gail Steketee told National Geographic.
Recurring spring and summer yard sales help households from holding on to no longer useful items and keep families from storing too much in a home. That鈥檚 what the is counting on, at least. The 90-year-old community organization in Ward 7 is hosting a neighborhood-wide yard sale Saturday where at least 11 homeowners will participate. It will have another on August 2.
鈥淲e鈥檙e having the yard sale to not clutter ourselves and keep things clean and organized and easy to see what we have,鈥 said Philip Chou, an Eastland Gardens resident participating in Saturday鈥檚 community yard sale.
Chou explained how things build up over time.
鈥淜ids grow up fast and things need to be gotten rid of, in addition to other things we鈥檝e collected over time,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥榳ell, we have a number of good things that hopefully people would be interested in having, so maybe we鈥檒l make somebody鈥檚 day with a good deal on something.鈥欌
Platforms like , community listservs, and can be helpful in promoting yard sales to help clear out items stored in homes, garages and sheds. Additionally, there are websites and digital communities like and , that encourage exchanging or giving away items to save the environment by straying away from buying new items that eventually end up in landfills.
Despite the resources that exist to purge, sell and give away personal items, it can be hard for some to let go of items easily. People have an attachment to their things for many reasons, according to a self-proclaimed afrominimalist,鈥 Christine Platt and author of 鈥淭he Afrominimalist鈥檚 Guide to Living with Less.鈥
鈥淐oupled with the generational trauma of systematic oppression that impacted our communities, Black Americans have a lot to reflect on when it comes to understanding how our childhoods impacted our spending habits,鈥 Platt wrote in the 2003 book. 鈥淚t is important for people of the African diaspora and other marginalized communities to understand they may find the letting-go process especially challenging.鈥
In her book, she says while people own things that may seem to take up more space than value, the items in our home may, in fact, have cultural or familial significance.
Chou, who has lived in Eastland Gardens for 14 years, can relate. He said his parents kept much of the items they purchased from when they immigrated to the U.S. making it challenging when it was time to help them move.
鈥淚 will say my parents kept so much stuff because they were very poor growing up,鈥 he told The Informer. 鈥淓verything they got, they said, 鈥業 paid good money for this and want to hold on to it.鈥欌
Through 鈥淭he Afrominimalist鈥檚 Guide to Living with Less,鈥 Platt emphasizes the importance of letting go as a part of overall healing.
“Living with less is about more than just having a tidy home,” writes Platt. “Living with less is not only liberating. Less is liberation. It is a lifestyle attainable for those willing to pursue it.”