Throw Away Day

Day 3
"Today, throw away something you like."

Much harder than it sounds. The hardest part about it is finding a balance between picking something that I like, and picking something that I wouldn't be too devastated about loosing. I don't want to feel lame about not throwing away something important enough, but I also don't want to regret throwing something away that I like.

I walked around my room, hoping that something would fall on my toe so that I could throw it away out of spite. Alas, such a sign did not come. This decision was made even harder by the fact that I am at a boarding school, for which I try to pack only things I actually use and care about. Even so, just yesterday I uttered the words "I have so much s**t... why do I have so much s**t?" Yet I could find nothing to dispose of. 

I turned over drawers, ruffled through clothing, and rummaged around shelves. Everything was either too valuable, or not valuable enough. 

As I was filing through filing cabinets, I realized that maybe I shouldn't take it quite as seriously as I had been. I just have to throw away something I like, not something I'm seriously attached to. After some thought, and some more rummaging, I selected a t-shirt. It was my favorite shirt for a while; I got it in New York City on a trip with my parents, and wore it until it got to just the right worn-down-ness.  But its remaining life has been decreasing, and I feel like, though I have an attachment to it (if not a strong one), it's time for it to go. But as I threw it away, my mind made one last attempt to stop me. What if I sent this to some impoverished country or something where a shirt like this is a big deal to a lot of families? But of course I'd never actually do that. If something has potential, but that potential will never be utilized, is it really a waste to throw it away? Is it still even potential? That isn't a rhetorical question- just wondering.

And I threw away the shirt.