KonMari letting go series:
Sentimental Item #3 My Dog’s Teddy Bear🧸
Once upon a time, I was a crazy doggie mom. 🐕
There was a doggie named Cliff who I loved so much. 🐶
And Cliff loved his teddy bear named “Kuma-san’. 🧸
Cliff played with Kuma-san since he was 8 weeks old.
When Cliff passed away, I put “Kuma-san” in a box and put it away in the closet. I let go of all the other toys to the animal shelter.
Going through the KonMari sentimental category had me face this box that I stashed away for 8 years. 🎁
Does it spark joy? No. Unfortunately it only brought up the sadness of losing Cliff and not the warm and fuzzy feelings of remembering him. ✨
But I didn’t wanna throw it away because it was still so dear to my heart because it was Cliff’s favorite toy.
Am I respecting “Kuma-san” by keeping him locked away in a box in the closet after all the years of service he did for my beloved dog? NO. 🦴
One of the things I love about the KonMari method is showing respect to your belongings. And I knew I was not doing that.
After a hard inner search, I found a Japanese shrine in Seattle who was having a New Year’s spiritual purification bonfire to send off people’s precious items. ⛩
I washed “Kuma-san”, sun bathed him on the back porch, took him with me for holiday so my family could say goodbye to him. Then shipped him to the shrine right before the New Year. ☀️
The priest that I talked to on the phone said “Don’t worry. I will take very good care of it.” I cried a lot through this process but when I heard the priest, I knew that “Kuma-san” was in the right hands. 🙏
I am sure you all have something that is hard to let go of.
As I said before, if it sparks joy, proudly keep it! 💞
But if it does not spark joy, how can you respectfully say goodbye?
Please share with me your story of letting go of your sentimental items
or the items that you are still working on.
