I worked on the phone with a client who was going through some things at his parents' home. He was in his thirties and had his own place, but he was using his parent's basement to store some of his stuff. Most of it were things from when he used to be a teenager.
He felt stuck around these things. He admitted he was emotionally attached and had a hard time letting go.
I said that he was probably using the space to keep one foot in the nest. It wasn't a conscious thing. We often do things that make us feel safe, even though at the same time they constrict us in some ways.
He said that he'd been wanting to become more independent in his life, but was having difficulty with making that happen.
I said that he would do well to feel suspicious about all his stuff in his parent's home. These things weren't serving him in his desire to become his own man. He felt good about this approach.
We dove into his stuff and came across some old cassettes that he used to listen to as a teenager. He had powerful memories about the cassettes and wanted to keep them in his parent's basement. I asked if he had a cassette player. He said he didn't. I said that he had a far away sound to his voice. He seemed lost in his past.
I reminded him of his desire to become an independent and powerful man. I said most of the things we'd come across would have some kind of emotional pull on him. But he would be better off asking himself, "Does this thing serve my life now? Will I bring it back to my own place and will it be a living part of my life?"
My client saw that these cassettes were in the way of him living a full life. He put them in the charity bag. We moved on to the next item.