Welcome to Volume 9 of Clutter Tales, a series where we tell the stories of our lives through our clutter. Today, I have another guest post and, it’s one with a positive message. This tale comes from Alison at A Sustainably Simple Life. Alison’s story about a treasure tin of memories is a reminder that the simplest of things can enhance our lives.

About today’s guest blogger

Alison and her friend Krista blog over at A Sustainably Simple Life. If you think it’s not possible to live sustainably on a budget, drop by and check out their blog. It’s full of tips, ideas, and DIY projects that can help you live a simpler, more sustainable life – and save you money! I love reading other blogs about green living, and theirs is one of my favourites.

Alison’s Clutter Tale – A treasure tin of memories

I love the idea that our clutter has a story. One of the first things I thought of when Michelle asked me if I had a Clutter Tale to share was this little green tin on my bookshelf. 

I look at it every time I go to declutter my home, but it always makes the cut and stays on my shelf. Funny enough, though, it isn’t the tin I want to keep, it’s the treasure inside. Inside is what remains of my collection of rocks. It’s a collection that goes all the way back to my childhood. 

Just outside of my childhood hometown there was a weekly Swap Meet held. It was like a huge garage sale where vendors would set up tables or blankets on the ground. The Swap Meet was held at an old drive-in movie theatre so it was a huge field that had a neat old feel to it. A person could find anything they imagined there. That’s what I believed as a child, anyways. 

One of my favourite vendors sold semi-precious stones and I would always go looking for their table. I’ve had the stones in this little tin for so long that I don’t remember where they all came from. It’s likely, though, that some of them originated from the Swap Meet. I began collecting rocks when I was a kid and collected many of them from the vendors there. 

The tin holds a great variety of stones: 

• Amethyst, which I’ve always loved because it’s pretty and my birthstone.  
• Turquoise, which is such a beautiful colour, but a funny shape.
• Hematite, which has the neatest shiny surface and looks metallic.
• Snowflake Obsidian, which is formed from lava but looks like it has snowflakes on it — such a fantastic contrast.

And there are the less precious “stones” in there too:

• A tile in the shape of a pizza slice
• Blue-green sea glass that had all its hard edges worn down by the ocean
• Pretty pebbles found on the lake or ocean shore

Each one brings back memories for me. The named stones have their memories at the Swap Meet. The pretty pebbles always take me back to a childhood camping spot. There was a little beach whose shore was all really small pebbles. We aptly called it “Pebble Beach” and spent hours scouring the shoreline for the prettiest pebbles we could find. It’s a habit I’ve taken with me into adulthood. Now when I go to a beach, I still have to look for the pretty pebbles, but these days I leave them behind. 

I have no idea where the pizza slice tile came from, but I think it came from a beach. I keep it in the collection because, well, who doesn’t like pizza? And it makes me laugh. My sea glass will forever remind me of a dear friend who has passed away. He had a passion for searching seashores for sea glass — particularly the blue pieces. 

It’s amazing how our clutter, our bits and pieces of stuff, can hold so many memories. This little tin can take me from 3rd grade receiving a tiny opal stone from an Australian exchange teacher to my late 20’s searching the beach for sea glass with a good friend. 

The memories are part of what makes decluttering so challenging. It’s also why I think decluttering is important. Removing the less important things allows the space for our treasure tins to shine light into our lives. 

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

Thanks again to Alison for sharing this story with us. It made me smile because my daughter also loved to collect rocks when she was small. She got more pleasure out of those rocks than many of her expensive toys. Please do drop by and check out A Sustainably Simple Life!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Clutter Tales. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!

What would be in your treasure tin of memories? Tell us about it below.