Keeping the unnecessary....

Hi all! I know it's been so long since I graced you with my presence, but I am back. I've had somewhat of a writer's block, but I am back- ready to go(I think)! But onward!
Last week, I spent most of my evenings and free time cleaning my room. I am generally a clean person, but will allow clutter to pile up. I don't quite understand why, b/c really, I hate clutter. It bothers me and makes me feel uneasy. My work desk is neat and I work hard to keep it that way. But when it comes to home, I just don't know. I kept saying to myself, "I have way too much stuff. Where did all of this come from?" And I came to 3 conclusions. 1) I am kind of materialistic. I have never admitted that. I'm sure that most people who know me can see that. I have this urge to have the finer things in life(or at least buy the cheap version of the finer things). I love fashion and at times, I let it turn into a need that is unnecessary. Do I really need another bag? Do I really need another pair of shoes? The reality is that, no, most of the time- or a majority of the time, I do not. 2)I am sentimental. I am one of those people that loves memories. You will always see me with a camera at events b/c I want to be able to look back and say "That was a really good day." or "That was one of the best vacations of my life." You get the idea. I love, love, love to receive cards or letters that come from the heart. And b/c I love to receive them, I always love to keep them and look back on how good I felt when I received it. So, in turn, I keep cards for years. 3)I have inherited some hoarding from my late grandmother. My grandmother kept everything. I remember when we lived in her house and my room was in the attic and I would spend hours going through all of the stuff she had up there. It boggled my mind. She must've had stuff that was 30, 40 years old- dare I say even older? When she passed, my mom and her brother got a dumpster and just got rid of everything. It was crazy how the attic looked bare. It was kind of eery and creepy.
So my question is, why do we hold on to things? The reasons I've given above are valid enough, right? I like to think they are. I can use them as an excuse as to why I haven't thrown things out in forever. But the reality is that I think that we are afraid to lose the memories that we have. I will never, ever give up my photo taking, but if I did, would I still have those memories? Of course I would. It's all about what you keep in your mind. It's nice to keep things, but in the end, you can't take all of it with you when you leave. You have to decide what to keep close to your heart.
This can also apply to our lives. Why do we hold on to so many things when we know that we need to let them go? It's because we're scared, we're hurt, we're sad, we're upset. I know I've held onto things in the past b/c I couldn't forgive. All I could think was "How could that person do that to me? I could never forgive them." But when you do something like that you're just giving power to the person that you can't forgive. They don't really care. Well in some cases they do, but most of time, they don't. Let me tell you, when you choose to forgive, there is such a weight that is lifted. You feel light. I know I still deal with that and I'm working on it, b/c I love people. We also can't let go of things b/c we're scared of what the outcome will be, but all we need is to have faith. It's hard, but it will help in the long run. That's another thing I'm working on, too. I guess we all are in some shape or form, huh? Wow, I meant to go in a completely different direction with this, but I just let the words flow as they came. So, to sum it up, sometimes, you just have to let go to move forward. It's hard, it will hurt, you will kick and scream and cry, but you'll feel better later.