Another card exchange holiday has just passed. You have enjoyed the cards and now what?
Do you keep them all? If so, where do you put them? If you keep all of your cards, how many would that be by the time you are 70?
If you recycle them, do you just drop them into the recycle bin or do you put them aside for art projects? Do you take some to schools or assisted living homes for projects? Or do you set them aside and plan someday to take them somewhere for someone to use them?
Dare you just trash them? Is that disrespectful to the person who gave you the card?
Perhaps you do a combination of the above. I like to keep a very few cards that have very special meaning and a special handwritten note inside. These I look at probably once a year. Then after a few years, even some of these cards are released. The keeper cards are kept in a memorabilia box.
I have in the past recycled some cards when it was easy to pass them on to a group who would use them. Now, I have to be honest with myself. I would probably have those cards lying around for a very long time before getting them somewhere for someone else to use. I will put all of the cards I don’t plan on keeping that are recyclable into the recycle bin and the rest into the trash. Getting rid of them does not mean that I did not enjoy them or receive pleasure from receiving them from someone special to me.
I look at most cards like flowers. They brighten my life for a week or two and then I move them on.
Letting go of items that take up space in my home and live, opens my life for more happy memories (and cards) down the road.
Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer
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