You’re bored and you can’t go anywhere because of the Pandemic, or the weather, or both. You’re tired of watching tv, doing puzzles, zooming, or whatever. Here’s an unobvious, but surprisingly intriguing way to keep you occupied. I came about it unexpectedly.
I found out that I had two subscriptions to Microsoft because I now had it through my work (I’m a Realtor). I called them to cancel one of the accounts. I had no idea that in doing so, that that would limit the free storage I had in my hotmail account. Yes, I still have a hotmail account! It has been my main email since the beginning of my foray into the email abyss. While most had changed over to gmail, I was lazy and kept mine. And it’s like my phone number. I don’t want to give it up!
I thought for sure that Microsoft broke it when they canceled my subscription. I was wrong. I found out via the customer service rep that I had to pay to get extra storage. I was irritated. I’ve had the account for free for over 20 years! Or at least I thought I had had it for free. Technically, I was paying for it when I signed up for a Microsoft subscription a few years ago. Well, I found out that I had over 20 GB of email with only an allowance of 15 GB for free, and therefore no email could come in or go out until I either bought more storage or started deleting. I decided to try to delete.
This is the part where you know you are addicted to electronics because it felt like someone had pulled out an I.V.! I needed to take immediate action because this account has my life on it. It’s the account I use for applying to jobs, communicating with family and friends, receiving bank statements, etc. I was irritated because I had about 68,000 emails on this account! If you think getting it down under the threshold would be simple, think again. So I began opening up Pandora’s Box. I sorted by size to see who were the big culprits. When you have that many emails, there are a lot of big and little ones. You would be surprised about how many documents you have on email! I’m talking about resumes, refinance documents, background checks, bank forms, airline tickets, and on and on. I saw emails exchanged with people I literally have no recollection of. Cue my nephew Rajay reminding me to take Prevagen!
I began to come across so many different aspects of my life I forgotten even existed! At first it was a tedious process, but the more time I spent, the more I was sucked into what I came across. Here is what I found.
- Evites of parties I had attended and parties I threw. Weddings, baby showers, meetups, dinners, and other social gatherings.
- Many forwards my family and friend’s had sent over the years. I probably hadn’t read or watched most originally, and found some very interesting art, dancing, singing, presentations, and articles. I enriched my life and learned some things.
- Photos and videos exchanged over all of these years. I got to see how much I and friends and family had changed. I also got to see how much my nieces and nephews had grown!
- All of the SPAM I get. It was satisfying to sort by From and delete 100s of those! I also learned how to get to the place that shows you all of your subscriptions. Yikes! It was therapeutic to clear these out.
- Automatic emails from so many different companies I had applied to for a job. My credentials are as prolific as SPAM!
- All of the Amazon purchased I’ve made and some great finds like this pillow.
- Disagreements I had with people in the past.
- Emails from family members cheering me on or showing their pride for my accomplishments.
- Tons of emails from close relationships with people that had now faded making me think about them.
- Advice like the 90/10 rule that was invaluable! I actually reached out to the former coworker who sent this to me!
If you are looking for a walk down memory lane that doesn’t just involve photos, I would recommend this. It’s like an attic full of hidden treasures! You may reconnect with someone unexpected!
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Lovely story – decluttering is a wonderful way to create space in your mind – to remind you, even, of that which you had forgotten. Things to be grateful for and appreciate. Thank you sharing 🙏
Thank you for taking the time to read. It was definitely a worthwhile effort!
Thank you for taking the time to read. I truly was an unexpected task of surprises!