Holding on to scraps

Do you ever have those days when you have big, serious things to do, but all of a sudden you get the urge to clean out the junk drawer in the kitchen? Or you decide to neaten up your shoes in the closet? Or in my case, neaten up the box that holds my wrapping paper and ribbon. Earlier in the week I'd gathered up the "needing-to-be-ironed" clothes from the closet floor and actually hung them up to be ironed at a later time. Maybe that would ease my problem. I actually love to iron (and watch a movie at the same time), but for some reason, I put it off and then the clothes multiply and divide and I get overwhelmed and only iron as I need it in the morning! So once the clothes were picked up, I organized the shoes which were laying about and I was feeling really good. I like order with my clothes. Then with those two jobs done, the floor of my closet was clean and I was feeling satisfied. By the next day, as I went to wrap a gift, I decided to attack the "wrapping stuff" box. Let's just dump it all out, now that I had a completely clean closet floor. First I decided to separate the different componants of said box, making piles of tissue paper, and gift bags, and cloth bags (that my sister makes and are the best way to cover a gift), and ribbon, and small boxes and the spools of tulle. Love to wrap with tulle...turns a plain gift onto a snazzy, ooh-la-la gift! Anyway, as I was separating (and actually seeing) what was in the box, I became aware of two or three plastic-wrapped selections of actual folded sheets of wrapping paper. You know the stuff that we used when giving a gift? The stuff we don't use any more since a handful of tissue paper and gift bag can be so easy AND look so special, why bother measuring, cutting, wrapping, taping, and be-ribboning? But you see, I still had the folded paper....in a pattern I've never liked so why did I think I was going to suddenly like it and actually use it? In fact, I also found scraps of paper maybe 3 inches by 9 inches, as well as some long left over pieces which were maybe 5 inches by 3 feet! Oh that's a common size I might need...never! I then discovered gift bags for "dad". No need for those now. I found small spools of ribbon I hadn't used in say, fifteen years. I found odd scraps of ribbon and cord which wouldn't fit around any gift I might give. I gathered up the gift bags for the man and crumpled those right up. No problem. Then I made a pile of the ribbon scraps for my daughter to use in "scrapping". Let her throw them away. But the scrids of paper...what to do? Should I toss? Give to daughter for her projects? Do I keep for a project I might do with granddaughter in about five years? What is it about scraps that make us (okay, me) want to hold onto them? The maybes, and what ifs, and possibilities seem to flood my mind. Is it my creativity or my "oh-I-just-might-need-this-one-day" that speaks to my brain? Is it the New England little verse that says something like "use it up or do without" that hinders me?
As I talked it over with my daughter, I realized the scraps were sapping my creativity. The culch around my house drains my energy. Something always needs to be sorted or put away or cleaned up or washed or dried or folded or stored. It requires attention I'd much rather give to sorting or creating (with) my seaglass! Or playing with my dear precious granddaughter. Or reading, or any number of other choices. So instead of chunking it, I am held captive. I hold onto the "what ifs". I want to let go of the paper scraps to remind me to let go of any other scraps that aren't worth MY interest. Be they "scraps" of people who no longer interest me, or scraps of paper or ribbon. I'm free to be me now. I'm free to let go of the pieces that no longer fit....
Excuse me while I run upstairs and chuck the paper and ribbon and who knows what else I'll find?!!