Including Minimalism

Got this quote through Stumbled Upon

Yes, there is a certain elegance of minimalism. But that’s because erasing that which is superfluous allows us to see the beauty in the essential. Cleaning the slate can be nice—temporarily freeing—but only because we can fill the slate with whatever adds value to our lives.
Real value, though, comes only from inside us—not the room, not the stuff. Of course, this is much easier to notice if there’s less junk cluttering our lives. Website

Actually, the more I read of this site, the more I realized that I am not alone in my 'de-cluttering efforts'

Before today's posting, I need to show what happened to the Memo Board from yesterday

Here it is, waiting, exactly opposite to the place on the side of those shelves where I hope it will hang. Hope Joey might make it happen (not necessarily do it) on his next visit.

 So I opened the big box, reached in without looking, and on the right you can see the bundle of papers I pulled out. It seems to be a selection of items, already selected in an earlier 'de-cluttering'. I daren't start going through it, as I would almost certainly get side-tracked from the task in hand, that is today's WITOT posting. So I just show it and pass on. I didn't even count the items from the other box, just grabbed a handful. Thankfully most were straight into the WITOT box.

That pile of papers. Might report on them tomorrow.

Half a pen! Who knows why I kept it all this time. 

A very defunct paintbrush does it have a history? What did I use it for that made it significant enough to keep? Again, who knows, because I don't know.

A dirty purple spoon. Again, can't understand why I would keep this - especially as purple is my second least favourite colour.

Please note that the table under it is cleaner than in the previous images as I have just cleaned it with Ecover Multi-Action Spray.

Now, this little shovel spoon, probably for ice-cream, is green and clean. But since it isn't accompanied by any clues, I have no idea what event might have been celebrated by the ice-cream treat. 

A drinking straw no idea why or from where I kept it. Like all the previous items, apart from the papers, it has ended up in the WITOT box.

A very ordinary ballpoint pen, fully used up, but with a bar-code attached. I can't imagine that this bar-code is original - it would take a miracle to keep it in place while the pen got so much use. But I will never know what the code refers to - and, in a way, I'm beyond caring much about it.

Another of those black labels., this time including the view of the back. Still no information about what it came from or when. It says this firm have been in business since 1902, that is even before my mother was born in 1904. 

I'm not throwing this item out. My brother drew it, probably about sixty years or so ago. My memory is that he made a set of them, possibly to decorate someone's bedroom.

I have put it with the items I kept from yesterday, in a plastic bag in my store-room, which is filling far faster than I would like. Need to do some de-cluttering in there also.