If you read my last note, New Year, New Vision (Planning A Vision Journal), you will know that I am setting up a Vision Journal for 2024.

As inspiration (and for images) I am using two beautiful magazines: The Artful Blogger, Visually Inspiring Online Journals, the May/June/July 2018 and Bella Grace, Life’s a Beautiful Journey, Issue 29.

These “magazines” have stiff covers, thick pages made from specialty papers, and amazing images. I have included links to the magazines websites so you can get an idea of the aesthetic of these gorgeous publications.

They are more like a book than a magazine. They aren’t really priced like magazines either costing $16.99 and $22.99, respectively.

I have had my copies for years and decided that incorporating them into my 2024 Vision Journal would be a good use for them.

After all, I’m a minimalist…I can’t hold onto 2 magazines forever! I’ve had one since 2018 and the other since 2022.

I have watched endless videos where crafters are ripping apart beautiful magazines like Daphne’s Diary to create collages or junk journals.

There’s nothing to it.

Yet I hesitated.

I didn’t start my journal.

I procrastinated.

I didn’t want to destroy my old magazines to create my new vision!

What Was Stopping Me?

When planning my journal, I had determined that I wanted my 2024 journal to be more about inspiration and personal growth.

Ironically…

before I have even started to create it, my vision journal has give me my first lesson in personal growth.

Resistance To Change?

At first I thought it was just the usual resistance to change – and possibly lack of confidence in my abilities.

As humans we would rather stick with what we’ve got (a lovely magazine) than rip it apart to try and make something better (a lovely journal).

It’s the old “the devil you know vs. the devil you don’t” debate.

The magazines are beautiful. They are high-end and expensive.

I’m just learning about collage.

What if I cut these magazines up and the journal pages I create are…well…UGLY?

But really, destroying a magazine to create a vision journal is a low risk undertaking.

No animals will be harmed in the making if my journal turns out to be a terrible disaster.

Artful Blogger even has information on how to order back-issues starting at $2.99. I can just re-purchase the magazine if I really regret cutting it up.

So if not this…then what was holding me back?

Attachment To Stuff (AKA Sentimental Clutter)

I am a minimalist. I have downsized multiple times. I am more than familiar with letting go of my stuff.

I worked through all those emotions years ago and (thought) I arrived at a place where I had let go of my emotional attachment to stuff.

Yet I’ve kept these two magazines on my bookshelf for years.

In fairness, I only keep things I love.

But…

I also love the idea of creating a vision journal using the curated images and inspiring quotes found in Artful Blogging and Bella Grace.

I am excited about the idea of incorporating them into my vision journal.

So why was I putting off starting?

For every item we own we have (consciously or subconsciously) attached emotion or meaning to it. We think of our belongings as an extension of ourselves.

I bought Artful Blogging when I was daydreaming about starting a blog.

I didn’t actually have a blog yet, but if I did the blogs featured in this magazine were all that (and more!) that I wanted my blog to be.

I read and re-read articles that described the bloggers backgrounds, their processes, and what inspired their blogs.

It was the “birthing” of myself as a blogger.

The magazine was a representation of what I wanted to be and do and have.

It’s a stand-in for me. By holding onto Artful Blogging I saw myself as a future artful blogger.

Bella Grace has a different story entirely.

I came across it at my local library sale mixed in with stacks of other magazines like People, “O”, and Better Homes and Gardens.

I snapped it up because it was a $22 magazine for $2. I figured I would read it and get rid of it.

The attachment I formed (the reason I kept it) is that it reminds me of the vintage “Ideal” magazines that my grandmother had.

My mother still has them and brings them out at Christmas time.

They have a similar cover and are full of themed poems, stories and artwork. Although no longer in print, you can still find them on the vintage shops on Etsy.

This magazine feels like a link to my grandmother.

I do want to create my journal with these.

What I don’t want to do is let go of the feelings I get when I flip through these magazines.

We could debate all day about whether I should use them or not.

There’s no right or wrong answer.

What’s important to recognize is that not wanting to destroy the magazines is not about the magazines at all.

It is about my identity as a blogger and my feeling of connectedness to my grandmother.

Do I need these magazines to maintain those two things?

No.

The magazines are a “stand in” for my feelings.

This is sentimental clutter.

We all do this, even though most of the time we don’t recognize or acknowledge it.

It’s perfectly natural.

Scientific American says “To feel emotionally secure, we require ego strength and confidence in our relationships with other people.”

To bolster our egos we infuse our stuff with our essence. Just holding Artful Blogger made me feel like a blogger, even before I owned a domain name!

I can’t cuddle up with my grandmother anymore (she has passed) but flipping through Bella Grace replaces this for me – in a way.

Will I Destroy Them Or Not?

I will.

Now that I have sorted out my reasons for stalling on getting started on my journal project, I’m ready to get going.

At this point I could decide to keep the magazines, but I will not.

I can acknowledge that the magazine isn’t what makes me a blogger.

Nola Noreen!, my actual blog, is what makes me a blogger. (Oops – did I just form a new attachment?)

Nor does Bella Grace connect me to my grandmother. The experiences we shared when she was alive are my connection to her.

Keeping the magazines on my shelf isn’t really serving me.

It makes me comfortable, but it won’t help me to grow.

I have decided to cut, clip, and rip up what I have on the gamble that I can create something new and wonderful from them.

I don’t want to let sentimental clutter stop me.

These magazines are paper and ink. Nothing more.

I have assigned their meaning.

I can de-assign their meaning and part with them.

This is the sentimental clutter that we all come across on our journey to simplicity.

• It’s why we can’t get rid of our stuff even though we are tripping over it.
• It’s what stops us from re-gifting or donating a gift we know we won’t use.
• It’s the reason we have basements and attics full of stuff we never use or look at.
• It’s why we can’t park our cars in our garages.
• It’s why we need 2,500 sq foot homes (or more!)
• It why we can never find what we are looking for when we need it.
• It’s why we spend every weekend cleaning, sorting, or organizing.

It’s important to acknowledge it, talk about it, and decide in what ways we will let our sentimental clutter influence and control our lives.

There is not a thing wrong with owning stuff.

As a minimalist, I still own lots of stuff.

Just don’t let sentimental clutter mean that your stuff owns you.

Something to think about as we start out a New Year!