I have a sneaker collection.  It’s a little known fact.  I have been collecting them for years and am partial to adidas and Puma.

Over the past few years, I’ve lost interest in getting new sneakers – I’ve had other things to spend my money on. . . like, diapers!

Still, I am attached to the ones I have.  I am particular about them, too – not wearing them in the rain, cleaning the littlest speck of dirt off of them to keep them crisp.

However, for a while I have been considering getting rid of them – donating them to a local women’s shelter for women who need them more urgently than I do.

I am feeling weighed down by excess in my life and want to simplify by relieving myself of unnecessary things that take up space. . . like say, a couple of dozen pairs of sneakers.

Black satin and red suede

Yesterday, I went through all my shoes with the intention of taking them to the shelter with the 3 garbage bags of clothes that I finally decided I will not wear in the near future (or ever).

I managed to part with 2 pairs – one of which I had never, ever worn.  I am not going to lie, it was hard.  I wanted to keep them, but in the end I could not justify keeping a pair of shoes in my closet that someone else needs.

Which brings me to these (pictured).  Aren’t they pretty and awesome and lovely and cool?  Did I mention pretty and awesome?

They are my favourite pair and I love them.  I have only worn them twice, but they make me happy every time I look at them.  Black satin and red suede.  I would rather admire them than wear them. . . wow, that makes me sound so materialistic!

For now, I’ll keep them.  Maybe someday in the future I will see someone wearing them on the street and smile (unless it’s raining. . . they are satin, after all!)

The excess is cluttering my life – literally and spiritually.  It weighs on me that I have so much that I never use when it is so easy to give it to people who have nothing.

How do you de-clutter your life and break attachments to memories & it-might-come-in-handy potential?