Liberating cupboards

Yesterday was pure pandemonium at work, so, when I came home by eight p.m. I found myself pretty wired and hungry enough to eat up half a cow on top of it.
As DH was out of town overnight, it was up to me what I´d do with the rest of the evening. Culinary and otherwise. So, I just opened myself a can of smoked mackerel with lots of pepper, and then I took advantage of the fact that DH was, for once, not occupying the couch in front of the TV to push said couch aside and attack the cupboards that are usually hidden behind it.
Due to their extreme inaccessibility, these are, by default, the storage place for things that are not used frequently.
So, I found my old ivory-colored opaque glassware dishes for eight people, which I bought about 25 years ago while still a student because I believed I would someday be popular and give a lot of parties.
They have been in there since I set up those cupboards, unused because I have, long ago, bought myself some pretty china that we use every day. They were taking up a whole compartment of premium storage space, so I have decided to remove them. As I am not much into having visitors, the number of occasions I´d use them is zero.
What makes me hesitate to ditch them altogether is once more sentimentality, as they were a present from my Grandma. But there´s another set of transparent glassware in an acorn leaf pattern that has even more memories attached, because they were the first dishes of my own I had, also as a present from Grandma, and which is right now stacked in the depths of a cupboard in my kitchen. Actually, these are still rather pretty, and the other, white set is a pattern that is heavily used in bistros and cafes hereabouts, because a snow-white version is always available for very little money. The ones I have, as I said, are ivory-colored and look decidedly yellowed and dingy when seen next to the snow-white ones.Besides, I found that they seem to attract some kind of greasy film when not in use that makes it feel icky to touch them.
And the latest additions to that white glassware are the 32 cm-plates that were part of the reason why I overate and gained weight. These, in any case, have a date with the trashcan. I just didn´t want to throw them in last night. The same fate awaits two giant pasta dishes. Which reminds me that I have several big serving bowls that go with them, too, somewhere in the kitchen. That I have to locate them first shows how little use I got from them. Again, I have several stainless steel bowls that I use for the purposes I´d use the bowls for, so, this is another case of clutter coming about because I did not toss the old ones when I got the others. I guess the trashcan will be quite full this week, after I put all that stuff in there.
Emotionally, I´m a bit on the fence about tossing them, because they come from a time in my life when I imagined my future a lot differently than what my reality is now. But in my present reality, I have no use for them. And that´s what should matter, not the old fantasies of being a master hostess, giving parties and making giant bowls of salad for my guests.
Besides, if ever an occasion should arise when I would need these dishes and bowls, I can always replace them for very little money. Until then, I have the use of at least one of my cupboards back.  And perhaps I´ll be able to liberate another one in the kitchen by discarding those extra bowls. Not that there wouldn´t be anything to put in there yet. But the number of stacks of things that barely fit into the cupboards will be decreased, and if the things I keep are better accessible, I might get more use out of them.
Just why is it so difficult to say farewell to things that have been given as presents? I have a tea mug with a matching lid and saucer, and a porcelain sieve for loose tea, that I have never used. It was a birthday present from a friend at school, I don´t even remember which, and I have dragged it along since I-don´t-know-when because I feel absurdly guilty about tossing it. I mean, I did at the time not care who gave it, and now I am feeling bound to keep it? The same goes for a single ice cream dish and a clay pot for making baked apples in the oven. Perhaps I should make it a point to use these. If they work well, they can stay, if they don´t, they go.
For those moments when I need reminding of the time I was given them, or of the fact that I ever had them, there´s my digicam. I´ll take pictures of them before tossing them. Digitally, that costs nothing and takes up no extra space.
And with every such decluttering session, I get closer to goal: having only things I need or like.


Julia