Seems everywhere I turn, there’s more info on “clearing your clutter!” Magazines, TV shows, and even Oprah’s website regularly feature articles on it. And I just received yet another book on clearing clutter, and like a hungry person, I dove right into reading about clearing out the clothes in my closet. (Yes, it’s true. I want to know how to purge even better)! In this book, it suggested that I hold each, individual piece of clothing in my hands, and feel it’s energy before deciding.
I was dismayed. Who has that kind of time?
Sometimes I feel that my things are already ruling my life. Why would I want to devote even more time to them? Isn’t that defeating the purpose?
Just starting…
First of all, I’d like to know why I am so obsessed with clearing my clutter (obviously, from the abundance of articles, I’m not the only one). Is it the new “make my life better” concept, like the great, new laundry detergent that will make my entire life sparkle? Or, is it that all this “stuff” really is dragging me down, and once it is gone, I will feel FREE, FREE, FREE! Whatever, I am counted in the ranks of the obsessed; I think about it in my spare time; I read those Oprah articles when I can, and plot and plan when I’m going to put all my pens and pencils in one plastic easy-to-see-through bin that will stack with the others in my pantry.
The shredding truck shows up at the ranch!
I just got through moving out of a home that I had lived in for over thirty years into a smaller, more manageable place. Let me tell ya, this gives new meaning to the word **“purge.” And while I don’t really want to get into the emotions of going through a goodly lifetime of memories at this moment, my “Widow’s Walk” as I call it, the confrontational
My daily hairdo.
decisions, and the extremely distasteful task of going through over two hundred file boxes in my storage room, and three decades of other collected stuff…
Magically, it all got done.
Did I feel better? Hmmm. The fact is – two months later, I’m still organizing. Still packing, and unpacking. And still shifting my home, and my life around, trying to figure out how my old stuff fits in the new, very different house, what needs to stay, and what needs to go. As far as I’m concerned –
I’ve graduated to a higher, advanced level of clearing clutter.
I have visions of a pristine, clutter-less environment. Light, and load-less..
Ah! This looks beautiful to me!
..My surroundings about moving into the future, and who I am now – not yesterday. And yes, I’ll feel free as a bird, and my life will look like the rooms in those decorating magazines, you know, the ones that look like no one lives in them. I’m sure you’ve noticed – there’s no stack of unread material littering a side table, no mail on the kitchen counter, car keys in a dish, the sweater you just draped over the dining room chair along with the laundry you have yet to iron and fold. There’s not even a dangling wire to charge a cellphone!
Who lives like these people in the magazines??
But, yes. It is possible to have a room, or two, that looks like that. I’ve seen them. But these belong to people that glide through their abodes (with a full-time maid standing behind the door), lighting upon a couch for a moment before moving on to something else in their lives. Even they don’t look like they live there, it’s like they’re just visiting.
There’s a wonderful Will Rogers quote I love. He says, “I never lie about my age. I want people to know why I look the way I do.”
I’m thinking about adjusting my outlook. As I’m setting up my house, I am finding that I want some of my old stuff in the place; pictures, posters, mementos, and cherished pieces of furniture that don’t fit. I want some clutter. Albeit, judicious clutter. And why?
Cause when I walk in my home I want to know how, and remember “why” I got there.
Patrick and I, starting out. 40 years ago.
One thing I recognized in going through over thirty years of “stuff” (and this is a lesson learned from holding/feeling each of those items in my hands, so maybe it’s not just a bad idea to spend the extra time doing this) is that I’ve lived quite a life to this point. A big life. I don’t want my home to look like I just got here. I’ve gone through bumps and bruises, laughter, love, and good fortune. I’ve earned where I am, and the life I am now living. Perfect, imperfect, full of opportunity. I can spring into the future, because of the foundations of my past. And I’m grateful for it. I can embrace it. And it can, if I let it, give me the power to move on.
Well, okay, then. I’m ready!
Now… If I can only get unpacked.
**For those who are concerned – no valuable memorabilia, or sensitive and personal items were harmed in this move.
