I can’t remember the exact context that I had heard about a Boost Box, but essentially it was in regards to creating a small collection of things that could boost your mood when feeling down.

I created my Boost Box when I was going through my sentimental clutter.  While these aren’t all the sentimental items that I own, these are the best of the best items.  In this post, I’m going to break down how I went about sorting through my sentimental items to select the items to put in my Boost Box and how that helped me cut down the number of sentimental items I kept overall.

Boost Box Requirements:

• No bad feelings attached to the item – no regret
• Items show/represent actual happy and joyous relationships
• Items make you laugh or smile the instant you set your eyes on them
• Items make you feel strong and competent
• In total the items can be gone through in about a half hour (not including watching or reading everything)

What should be removed:

• Items that pull up regret (loss of relationship, missed opportunities, etc.)
• It is okay to put items from people who have passed but not if it brings up anything but good memories (don’t include many of this type of item)
• Anything that pulls up vanity or achievements that do not make you feel proud of your efforts
• Nothing that puts you in a place to compare yourself to others
• Photos where one person looks pissed off
• Photos where you know you weren’t having fun or enjoying having your photo taken
• Generic Thank You cards or greeting cards that have almost nothing personal stated – unless it pulls with it a very specific wonderful memory
• Generic letters written that are just describing the day and don’t pull up any great memories
• Portraits that you don’t love
• Artwork that doesn’t immediately pull up good memories

How to start:

I had separated greeting cards from letters and photos and awards.  I would recommend starting that way, but you can treat them all as one.  You may have to read through things but if you can spread them out to start that will help.  Your first goal is to find one thing that your face lights up to find.

For me, this was the handmade birthday card my sibling made me.  The second I saw this my face lit up and I smiled ridiculously.  This becomes the benchmark for everything else that will go into the Boost Box.  We’re not looking for “things to keep” here.  We’re looking for the thing that brightens our day tremendously.

Finding more like it:

Now we have to do the tiring part and go through stacks of items.  This can cause your perspective to change and lose focus on what the goal feels like, which is why you want to keep that item in view as you go through the remaining piles.

You can keep whatever you want.  Fundamentally, the boost box is coming from the perspective of someone depressed or even suicidal to remind them that life is worth living.  You do not want any negative emotion in that box.  So be very aware of how the items make you feel the instant you see or touch it as well as the feelings that come up behind them.

I had many letters with pen pals that my memory of our relationship was very different than the letters actually showed, so even though seeing the letters at first made me laugh they shortly made me feel sad that I had invested in a relationship that was maintained more out of boredom. 

Greeting Cards:

I recommend starting with greeting cards because very few will make the cut.  Most people just sign their name to a card as it is.  This is not sentimental.  It was courteous of them to send a card, but it is not sentimental.  However, sometimes people send you cards because they know you are struggling with something or they write little letters on the cards.  These are the ones you’ll pay attention to.  I’d recommend throwing the others away.  I did keep one that was just signed because it was the only thing I had from an uncle that passed away.

Thank You Cards:

After greeting cards, come thank you cards.  I pray that you have received many thank your cards.  If you haven’t, I’m sorry.  This is a lost art.  We’re not looking for Thank You’s from gifts given, though some of these can be precious.  Keep those.  You really want to find the ones where someone thanks you for helping them through challenges or highlighting your own attributes from their perspective. 

Sometimes we lose track of how others see us and we need those very specific traits handwritten from someone that took the time to tell you just how specifically wonderful you are.  Even if you’ve lost touch with these people, generally there aren’t bad emotions with notes like these.  Add these to your Boost Box.

Memorabilia:

I had several random boxes of memorabilia that included items from a poorly shaped crochet snowflake to my childhood braided hair.  This is a strange box that included many faded movie ticket stubs and name tags.  Many of these items had faded or lost their context to me over the years of being tucked away.  This is where I found random scraps of paper that showed notes passed in school and some handmade crafts.  This pile is honestly mostly junk and I threw much of it away. 

However, I had a letter a sibling wrote in misspelled childhood handwriting on top of coins that were clearly set on the scanner and copied inviting me to join their special club.  Adorable.  Made me smile instantly.  Goes in the box.

When it doesn’t meet the requirements for the Boost Box:

As I went through the boxes and looked at items it became easier and easier to get rid of things that had no value to me.  Most were birthday cards that said “lots of love” and signed.  Many Christmas cards with signatures.  Many things I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep because of mixed feelings and I didn’t pressure myself to get rid of those at this time, but being aware of what emotions come up can help you figure out what things to keep as they come in.

Photographs:

I separated out portraits of other people.  For me, they hold no value beyond seeing them the first time.  If I have a relationship with you, I want a photo of us, but I don’t want a portrait of you or you and your family.  I do appreciate seeing your family and kids grow up, but I’m not keeping them.  Portraits made me feel guilty.  I am supposed to value them….but I don’t.

For others, seeing the people they know and love in portraits is uplifting so use your own preference here.  You can go through all photographs at the same time.  Again, be careful not to drift far from your goal of happy moments/memories only.

Try to find one photograph quickly that meets the criteria for the boost box.  It should cause the same reaction, though maybe less extreme, as the first item you find.  You will keep many other photos than what will go in the Boost Box.  Just make sure in the photo that you were having fun in the photos you select.  It should bring up only good things.

Awards and Past Experiences:

Awards can be tricky.  I have none that make me feel the way that first item, my sibling’s handmade card, makes me feel.  There were some awards that meant nothing to me, primarily because I knew I hadn’t even tried to get the award.  Attendance awards are that way for me.  I grew up that attendance was an obligation, not an achievement.

I kept many awards but only one made it in my Boost Box.  This is a completion medal.  The reason this one stands out is that it was an obstacle course 5k run that I completed during many health challenges.  I climbed ropes and buses and was shaky by the end.  I was pushing myself physically.  It reminds me that I am stronger than I think because I accomplished more than I thought I could during this run.

DVDs or less personal items:

You can absolutely include your favorite movie or television show, etc.  I didn’t put anything like that in here because I can easily pull it from my main collection.  However, I did add DVDs from sentimental items of my high school events.  I don’t believe I’m in them much.  However, one of my best friends gave a graduation speech that was hilarious.  Sadly, the recording on my DVD is corrupted but just seeing it reminds me of the speech.

If you have other categories to go through such as stuffed animals or souvenirs, go ahead.  I didn’t include any of these items myself, but I love traveling and anything can represent a wonderful moment that you may want to include.  Just keep that bar of acceptance high.  No negative impacts.

Finishing touches:

The box doesn’t matter as long as it can hold your items and be readily available.  I used a box I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  You may have a box that makes you feel great too.  This would be even better!

Moving forward with Sentimental Keepsakes:

When deciding what to keep in your memory bin, which is where you will put the other things you want to keep but don’t meet the Boost Box criteria, remember how these items make you feel.  You may not know why something that should be happy makes you feel bad, but inevitably something will.  Time changes how we look at things but in my experience things that make you feel bad will continue to make you feel bad.  Part with them or process the emotion and then part with it.

Additionally, there will be things that you keep because you think you should value them, but you don’t.  It’s okay.  Let them go too.

For the rest, it may not be so simple.  There will be a lot of mediocre items.  The Boost Box is there to help you feel confident that you have saved the most important things.  If it’s ambiguous let the size of your memory bin help you part with the item. My memory bin is a chest in my living room.

I am not an extremely sentimental person and even I found it very taxing to go through all the things I’d kept that fall into the sentimental category.  The common advice of “don’t start with sentimental” is right.  Build the muscle for curating and discarding things that are less emotional first, but when you’re ready to start into this area I highly recommend starting with curating the best memories before you really push for discarding memories.  It will help you set a benchmark for the items you keep.