Health

Too Sentimental to Declutter? Start Here.

Published

1 year ago

March 1, 2025

Too Sentimental to Declutter? Start Here.

Kim Allen doesn’t like clutter. But when it comes to some of her most sentimental items, she finds it hard to let go.

Near the top of the list is a ceramic creature that her daughter made years ago. It has one eye, a lolling tongue and a crop of blue hair. She displays it in a prominent place near her bathroom sink because it always makes her smile.

But there are other keepsakes that don’t bring the same kind of joy — such as memorabilia and artwork handed down from her relatives — that are only taking up space, physically and emotionally.

“Hopefully I will be retiring at age 67,” said Ms. Allen, who is 52 and lives in Sherrill, N.Y. “Do I really want to deal with all of this excess stuff then? No, I want to be having fun with my friends and family, enjoying the life I worked so hard to build.”

And yet for a long time, Ms. Allen felt uneasy about discarding the family heirlooms.

Sentimental items are among the hardest belongings to part with. The mementos can feel intertwined in our identity, particularly if they once provided us comfort or belonged to a loved one. Getting rid of them can signal that certain chapters of our lives have closed, said Selena Jones, a grief and trauma therapist in Ontario who coaches older adults in the art of decluttering.

“People get caught up in the fear that if they let something go that is sentimental, that they will forget the memory,” she said. But our memories live inside us, she added, not in our things.

If you’re looking to pare down some of your most meaningful items, here are gentle ways to get started from decluttering experts.

Build Your Decluttering ‘Muscle’

To kick off the process, reflect on why you want to declutter in the first place, said Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez, an expert in hoarding disorder and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine.

The “why” will serve as your motivation. For example, maybe you want to avoid leaving behind a slew of items for your children to sort through after you’ve died. Maybe you simply want a room or space to be more functional.

For Lee Shuer, 50, who lives with symptoms of hoarding disorder, making the choice to trim back his sentimental items was an enormous challenge at first.

His drive to collect things began in childhood. When he got his own space, stuff filled his home in Northampton, Mass., spilling onto the porch and choking the hallways. He eventually realized that he was clinging to things that reminded him of people, places and experiences from his past.

“I wanted to make room for my future,” Mr. Shuer said. He envisioned having a space that would be welcoming for friends, family and, eventually, a romantic partner. Now, he helps people declutter their homes, and leads workshops, which he helped develop, for those with hoarding disorder.

Once your motivation becomes clear, Dr. Rodriguez advises tackling the low-hanging fruit: the common areas that you use every day.

By focusing on decluttering the living room and the bathroom, for example, your efforts will be immediately visible and rewarding, Dr. Rodriguez said.

Then work your way up to the items that feel the toughest to discard.

Prioritize the Items That ‘Amplify Joy’

After his mother died, Joshua Fields Millburn, a host of the podcast “The Minimalists,” learned that the fewer sentimental items he had, the more value he got out of them.

“Because if everything’s sentimental, then nothing’s sentimental,” he said.

So rather than putting everything in a “clutter mausoleum,” he said, choose the few things that amplify your joy and consider displaying them, he advised.

Also ask yourself whether you would pay money for any given item again. If not, that’s a sign you should let it go, Mr. Millburn said. If you think you might want to look at it again, consider taking a picture and storing it in the cloud or a special folder in your computer.

Ms. Allen, who has managed to whittle down some of her more sentimental items, faced a tougher challenge when considering her deceased relatives’ hand-me-downs — but eventually she had to admit that she and her daughter didn’t want them.

At first, this made her feel guilty.

Emotions like this “keep us stuck, and it can lead to procrastination,” she said.

Do a Little at a Time, but Do It Consistently

To avoid becoming overwhelmed, Ms. Jones suggested making your task as small as possible. You might pick one room; one type of item, like a big stack of paper; or a pocket of time, such as every Saturday at 3 p.m. Then stick with it. Even if you only spend 10 minutes at a time decluttering, you’ll see progress.

Susan Litt, 49, in Richmond, Va., is continually sorting through the artwork that accumulated from her two children. “You can’t have 10 bins of things for your kids,” she said. “It’s overwhelming.”

Now that her children are teenagers, she asks for their input on what holds meaning and what can go. She also avoids trying to sort everything in one sitting — “that’s too drastic for me,” she said. Instead, she’ll return to the same pile of things in a few months.

Try These Decision-Making Techniques

If you’re not sure where to start, Dr. Rodriguez suggested, pick up an item and ask yourself two questions: 1) What comes to mind when you hold this item? 2) What if you got rid of it?

It’s often helpful to share your answers with a friend or family member, Dr. Rodriguez added. Simply talking about the item and the time period that it represents can sometimes help people let go, she added.

You can also ask a friend or neighbor to hold onto something you are considering parting with for a week, Mr. Shuer suggested. Then see how you feel when the week is up. Was it as difficult as you anticipated?

Steve Wobrak, 67, of Latrobe, Pa., said this strategy helped him to finally give away one of his daughter’s many elephant figurines — years after she died.

“I got some tears out,” he said. Parting with one sentimental item made getting rid of others a bit easier. He soon realized that the memories didn’t disappear, even if the items did.

“It’s OK to have emotional attachments,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “You just can’t keep all of the things.”

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Health

Wegovy Pill Side Effects To Watch for and How It Compares to Injections

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19 minutes ago

March 24, 2026

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Wegovy Pill Side Effects To Watch for and How It Compares to Injections

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Health

Parkinson’s risk increases with exposure to common chemical, study suggests

Published

1 hour ago

March 24, 2026

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Parkinson’s risk increases with exposure to common chemical, study suggests

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A pesticide commonly used in America’s food supply has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests.

A UCLA study published in the journal Springer Nature Link suggests that exposure to chlorpyrifos could increase the risk of the neurological disease.

The chemical is often used on agricultural products like soybeans, fruit and nut trees, broccoli, cauliflower and other row crops, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

EARLY PARKINSON’S COULD BE DETECTED DECADES BEFORE SYMPTOMS WITH SIMPLE BLOOD TEST

The study compared 829 people with Parkinson’s to 824 people without the disease over a 45-year period, focusing on their proximity to chlorpyrifos.

The researchers also conducted mouse experiments, where mice inhaled the pesticide as humans would for 11 weeks. Experiments were also carried out on zebrafish to study cell-level brain damage.

Chlorpyrifos is often used on agricultural products like soybeans, fruit and nut trees, broccoli, cauliflower and other row crops, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (iStock)

In humans, the study revealed that long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos led to more than a 2.5 times higher risk of Parkinson’s.

In mice, exposure to the pesticide caused movement problems similar to Parkinson’s symptoms, loss of dopamine-producing neurons, increased brain inflammation and build-up of harmful proteins.

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Zebrafish suffered brain cell death and damage linked to failure in the cell’s “cleanup system,” according to the study press release.

Dr. Jeff Bronstein, director of the Movement Disorders Program at UCLA and professor of neurology and molecular toxicology, noted that previous human studies also suggested an association between chlorpyrifos exposure and Parkinson’s.

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“[We were] surprised that the mechanism of toxicity was apparent in both mice and zebrafish,” he said. “We rarely find such consistent results in different animal models.”

A researcher commented that the consistency in results between human and animal subjects is “rare.” (iStock)

The researcher emphasized that the association between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s was “very strong,” and the longer someone was exposed, the higher the risk became.

“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides (organophosphates) by not using them in their home, eating organics, and washing fruits and vegetables before eating them,” Bronstein advised.

Study limitations

The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged, primarily that it was observational, meaning it shows an association but cannot prove causation.

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It also estimated exposure based on participants’ locations, and did not measure diet, indoor exposure or personal lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, the results of the animal models can’t be translated directly to humans.

There was also the possibility that chlorpyrifos was used along with other chemicals, which means it could be difficult to measure its specific impact, the study noted.

Chlorpyrifos is used to control different kinds of pests, like termites, mosquitoes and roundworms, among crops. (iStock)

Industry reaction

Chlorpyrifos is used to control different kinds of pests, like termites, mosquitoes and roundworms, among crops, according to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at Oregon State University.

People can be exposed to the pesticide by breathing it in or by consuming contaminated food or water.

In 2021, the EPA banned the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops, but a federal appeals court overturned that decision in 2023, allowing its use to resume on some crops while regulators revisit the rule.

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In January 2026, the EPA issued an update outlining plans to move forward with a rule that would ban most uses of chlorpyrifos.

“Chlorpyrifos is subject to registration review, a process required under FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) in which registered pesticides are comprehensively evaluated every 15 years against current safety standards and the latest scientific evidence,” the EPA said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.

“EPA is currently developing a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos as part of that review, and will consider this study alongside any other relevant submissions,” the agency said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital. (Getty)

“EPA is currently developing a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos as part of that review, and will consider this study alongside any other relevant submissions. Where the science calls for stronger protections or tolerance revocations, EPA will act without hesitation and without delay.”

Fox News Digital reached out to several manufacturers of the chemical for comment.

“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides.”

Corteva, an Indiana agrichemical company formed in 2019 through the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, announced in 2020 that it would end production of chlorpyrifos within the year, citing declining sales.

In April 2022, the German chemical company BASF requested the cancellation of its pesticide registrations for products containing chlorpyrifos.

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“BASF does not manufacture chlorpyrifos and does not have any pesticide registrations issued by the U.S. EPA for chlorpyrifos-containing products,” the company told Fox News Digital.

No products from Corteva or BASF were included in the study linking chlorpyrifos to Parkinson’s disease.

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.

Health

‘Call a Boomer’ payphones help cure loneliness, spark friendships across generations

Published

13 hours ago

March 23, 2026

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‘Call a Boomer’ payphones help cure loneliness, spark friendships across generations

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Along a bustling sidewalk in Boston, a bright yellow payphone invites folks to “call a Boomer.”

Almost 3,000 miles away in Reno, Nevada, a nearly identical phone prompts residents of Sierra Manor – an apartment complex for seniors – to “Call a Zoomer.” The goal is simple: to get strangers to talk to each other.

The project, often referred to as simply “Call a Boomer,” is the latest initiative from Matter Neuroscience, a New York-based company dedicated to mapping the “biomarkers of happiness.”

NEARLY HALF OF SENIORS IMPROVE WITH AGE — AND RESEARCHERS THINK THEY KNOW WHY

By connecting “two of the loneliest demographics” (older adults and younger adults), the project aims to prove that on a molecular level, “humans need one another in order to be happy,” according to Calla Kessler, a social strategist at Matter Neuroscience.

Along a bustling sidewalk in Boston, a bright yellow payphone invites folks to “Call a Boomer.” (Matter Neuroscience)

“Younger adults and older adults tend to experience the highest levels of loneliness of any age group,” the company wrote on its website. “So the goal of this project is to inspire generational connection through meaningful conversations, despite differences in age, lifestyle or politics.”

GRANDPARENTS WHO BABYSIT THEIR GRANDCHILDREN STAY MENTALLY SHARPER, NEW STUDY REVEALS

The hope, according to Kessler, is that the calls will shift the brain’s focus from stress to bonding.

“Our neuroscience angle is cannabinoids over cortisol,” Kessler told Fox News Digital. “Cannabinoids are the feel-good neurotransmitter in our brain that creates that warm feeling with a friendship — and when you activate cannabinoids, you’re counteracting the negative effects of cortisol, which is our primary stress hormone.”

“Younger adults and older adults tend to experience the highest levels of loneliness of any age group,” the company noted. (Matter Neuroscience)

This isn’t Matter’s first round of payphones. Its initial experiment connected one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. (San Francisco) with one of the most conservative (Abilene, Texas).

“We basically just wanted people to find common ground and encourage people to think beyond labels,” Kessler said.

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She noted that the negative results were “almost negligible,” with most participants enjoying their time speaking to different people.

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Now, the focus has shifted from political labels to generational divides.

The negative results have beem “almost negligible,” with most participants enjoying their time speaking to different people. (Matter Neuroscience)

As the “Call a Boomer” experiment continues, the team is busy collecting audio files of these intergenerational chats to prove that simple connections with other humans can help improve mental health.

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“Our research is essentially trying to find a non-pharmaceutical cure to depression,” Kessler added.

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Looking ahead, she said, “we’ll definitely be doing fun things that we hope get people’s attention and inspire them to learn a little more about themselves.”

Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of story topics including food and drink, travel, and health.