Letting Go: Overcoming Emotional Attachments to Possessions When Moving Abroad

How To Detach From Your Stuff, So You Can Leave It Behind & Go Abroad?

So, you’ve decided to leave your things behind. That might mean that you’re selling some items, donating some items, storing some items, or throwing them away. I completely understand being attached to stuff! Being raised in a hyper-consumer culture, stuff means comfort and stability.  But stuff also contains energy, the energy of past situations and memories. Regardless of how nice those things are or perhaps how nice the memories that encompass them are, you’ve got to understand that in order to create something you’ve never experienced before you have to do things differently. You have to make room (physically and energetically) for a new life to be drawn in. 

So perhaps you start with Marie Kondo’s method of evaluating your stuff and go from there!

Marie Kondo's method, also known as the KonMari method, is an approach to tidying and organizing possessions by categorizing them. The method includes five categories: Clothes, Books, Papers, Komono (Miscellaneous Items), and Sentimental Items. Identifying the main categories under which most items fall, can help increase the speed at which you can pile everything together.

Marie Kondo encourages tidying by category. Starting with clothes, then moving onto books, paper, miscellaneous items, and sentimental items. The decision-making process is simple, you keep the things that spark joy or speak to your heart and discard the things that do not.

the KonMari method is useful for people moving to a new home, as it can help reduce the packing and moving load. By following the KonMari method, you can declutter your home and make it more organized, thus making it easier to pack up and move abroad.

Will you miss your stuff?

If you can’t get the equivalent in your new country then, yeah probably. 

But you’ll most likely forget about it until a very exacting situation arises (“damn it, if only I had my purple glitter pen with the feather on top!!” or something like that).

Though some things you’ll miss more routinely. For me, it’s a pair of jean shorts that I cut myself from a pair of Goodwill jeans. Those jean shorts fit SO WELL and were so cute! I guess I could make some more, but I’m not super crafty, so it feels like it was a fashion fluke (hence my ongoing angst).


Have some insight to share? Drop your comments below and let’s continue the conversation.

 Found this helpful? Be sure to share with your friends!

Buy Me A Coffee

Previous
Previous

Moving Abroad: Coping with a Lack of Roots through Community and Routine

Next
Next

The Moving Abroad Conundrum: Deciding What To Do With Your Possessions