Stories: everything we own has a story to tell...
Why can it be so hard to get rid of things? One reason is because each thing we own has its own story to tell, and these stories attach our things to our past, present, and even future -- stories based on fond memories or reminiscences, something we need right now, or something we might use (again) Some Day.
Things even have their own secret stories which invite the imagination: an old basketball (#587; trashed) which my son used and the neighborhood kids borrowed sometimes to shoot at our streetside hoop. A pair of old roller blades (#93; trashed) which carried my pre-teen son on adventures I may never know about.
It's easy to forget how our things embody our stories, and thus our things embody us -- our identity, memories, sense of self -- but sooner or later, any decluttering effort will begin tugging on those attachments.
