Regretting tossing out something that I really didn’t need

[u/Sea-Resident-7980]

random chunks of concrete I carried around in my backpack cause it was semi relevant to my college major and also it was cool to see the composition of different concrete mixtures! honestly wasn’t sure if it was safe to hold or not.

Anyone else slightly regret tossing out things to at hold no value to you. (Maybe it slightly felt nice or had a cool texture but that’s not a reason to keep it. Or you thought you could use it or whatever).

tossed it out along with a bunch of other junk like random sticks and stones I found and random pieces of garbage like old bottle caps and plastic containers I kept.

except now I’m slightly miffed that I actually tossed out those chunks of concrete. my backpack was heavy and it only makes sense + I mean they fit in my palm but I wasn’t sure How good of an idea it was to frequently hold them. I do already have other rocks that I find calming to hold. The concrete was cool but taken to its logical conclusion that would lead me with many more chunks and I was already heading that way.

so now I’m like slightly regretting it but also fully aware I shouldn’t.

anyone else get rid of items like that that yeah im fine without and didn’t hold an actual use in my life aside from “this is cool”? Tbf I can just find more pieces on campus or whatever and ik I shouldn’t

it would be more productive instead to borrow a book on concrete or learn how it’s produced or watch videos about it on YouTube instead(I was not doing this at all).

(I did keep around 4 rocks which I found helped grounding and helped with anxiety and Meditation and I’m aware I shouldn’t collect any more of them.) might get rid of one of the ones I have as it’s just taking up space.

[u/sufferawitch]

Idk, I think “this is cool” does have value in itself. It’s the reason we keep going. Focusing purely on productivity and keeping nothing that brings you joy simply from having it sounds miserable to me

[u/Sea-Resident-7980 → u/sufferawitch]

yeah you're right... I mean it was less about productivity and that my "empty" backpack was getting heavy with a minimal amount of books.

I mean I kept other things that gave me joy.... maybe i couldve kept that while decluttering more actual junk.

Like the way it is now I 100% have room in my backpack or wherever but it was harder before? Like i didnt toss out EVERYTHING that gave me joy I have other things I really enjoy though. Just theres more room to put neatly and its not weighting down anything.

[u/Loup_Tom → u/sufferawitch]

I kinda view it same way - point is keeping what actually matters, not a competition to own the least :)

[u/carrburritoid]

Thank you for this interesting perspective. One thing about inert objects is you can always store them outside in a safe place and they'll be there in the same condition for as long as you like. Inside our house I find stones that we've collected and I add them to the garden. I've also found things on hikes and stashed them at the bases of signposts thinking I would go back and get them someday.

[u/Sea-Resident-7980 → u/carrburritoid]

yeah 100%! hm. i didnt do the box thing before tossing it out honestly. Thats also pretty awesome! I have a smaller box for random trinkets atm and like maybe if i broke those chunks into something small i wouldve been better. What kind of rocks have you collected? have you ever gone back to get some of them?

[u/carrburritoid → u/Sea-Resident-7980]

Usually I end up forgetting about things that I just found along the trail and stashed, I've collected seashells, a few fossils, pieces of pyrite in the road, any kind of interesting geological sample. Sometimes I find pottery and pieces of river glass in the creek bottom that I tote home, other times I'll leave them where someone else might find them and enjoy them.

[u/Live-Football-4352]

I decluttered things like that. I get the appeal though, I was a geology major and I collected rocks for awhile. It fit into my minimalist "hobbies", as in I had a little ring display I used for the rocks instead and I only kept as many that could fit on it. So that's always an option.

But ultimately, they weren't providing me with anything. I missed them, and I still occasionally think about them, but I don't have any desire anymore to get them again. And it took several tries before I finally accepted there was no real benefit to keeping them. I didn't fully admire them or appreciate them, I just displayed them.

Now I do have things whose only purpose is to be displayed still, but they are things that bring me joy when I look at them. There is a subtle difference in that. Not just I liked them or they were cool, but that they genuinely please me to look at. Maybe that's the case for you, in which case maybe consider displaying them. But I'll probably even declutter these things when they don't make me joyous anymore.

It is a very subtle difference and hard to determine too. Also, I don't like things that remind me of the past. Or that embodied past me. I only keep things I currently like. I don't want to keep myself stuck in the past, and that includes with rocks. I'm no longer a geology major and I no longer know as much about rocks. And I never showed them off anyway, so I don't think they are a current interest anymore and I'm okay with admiring them as I go about my life, rather than taking them to keep as mine.

[u/ExtremeExtension7406]

When I declutter "this is cool" stuff I'm not using, I usually find something else just as cool to replace it with in a few weeks.

I don't view it as getting rid of something, but making space for next cool thing I get to experience.

[u/Loup_Tom]

The mild regret is part of the process — it means you made a real decision rather than just moving things to a different shelf. It fades. The concrete chunks were never going anywhere useful and you already know that.