I Can't Let Go of the Clutter

When you clear out your bedroom, dismantling cupboards, rearranging furniture, dusting out cobwebs, vacuuming out crevices filled with layers of dusty decades and peeling off outdated wallpaper that looks like it could have doubled as a blackout curtain back in 1944, you are bound to rediscover objects you forgot you ever had.

And then the memories wash through the floodgates of your mind, overwhelming you with nostalgia, and you find yourself sifting through postcards from your penpal back in the days of Tamagotchi and Sleepless in Seattle.

After a well overdue springclean of my Ground Zero bedroom I discovered the following:

• I have far too much jewellery. People seem to prefer jewellery as a staple gift solution, and while I love having it, I rarely wear it. I guess I just like knowing that I've got some. Magpie.
• I need to read more, according to the many unread books on my shelf.
• I should do a routine sweep-and-dust at least once a fortnight to relieve myself of my hayfever ailment.
• Three old stuffed friends from childhood - a grubby trio made up of a pelican ('Pelly'), an elephant ('Nelly') and a chick ('Gina').
• A set of chess pieces, a riding hat, an election poster from 1994 that reads 'VOTE ANC,' a movie still from Lord of the Rings signed by Sir Ian McKellen, a limited edition box set of the Harry Potter books , an Anne of Green Gables doll with a balding problem and a book on practical calligraphy.