There is a lot of stuff in the attic. Attics. Three of them.
There is even more stuff in the basement.
There is stuff in my car. Stuff jammed into various drawers and cupboards. I think there are shells from St. Augustine Beach in the garage, collected in, oh, maybe 1989?
I made a little chart of New Year's Resolutions, most of them the ones I make year in and year out. Lose weight organize papers lose weight organize pictures lose weight organize clothes lose weight walk every day lose weight clean out closets.
Is there a theme here? Excess weight and excess stuff? I'm sure they're related in some Freudian Jungian cosmological way. It's not even hard, is it? Experience enough loss and despair in your life and you never let go of a single thing that isn't taken from you?
Time to grow up and move on. So...hidden within those boring, run-of-the mill annual resolutions is the big one: for every new thing that comes into this house, ten existing things have to go. I don't care where they go. The thrift shop, the Salvation Army, a school library, the tree-lawn, the landfill. I don't care. They just need to get up and walk outta here!
(So far so good. There is an outfit in a catalog I really want. A silk tank, a long pullover sweater, a long skirt. To get all three, I have to get rid of thirty other items of clothing. I haven't gotten rid of anything yet, but I haven't added anything either.)
15 comments:
Good plan! I do think something is wrong with your arithmetic though. If you buy three items don't you have to get rid of 30? hehehe
LOLOL OK, I fixed it.
Now you see why I tell my students it would be unfair of me to grade their papers at night!
I think I'll join you in this crusade to get rid of things. It is such a cathartic experience, once you really get on a roll. I got rid of a lot of things the past two years, via eBay, and made a few bucks while I was at it. Think I'll get back into that. :-)
P.S. ...Happy New Year!
I am such a pack rat and am messy to boot. Before I go back to work next week, I've got to straighten up my writing studio. I need that physical and mental fresh start. But it will be a mess in no time flat. Wherever I am is a chaos of books, notes, writing utensils, more books. Around my chair, my bed, my desk, my bathtub. My husband is a packrat, too, except his stuff is bigger than my stuff--tools, motors, boats, boat stuff, more boat stuff. Does anybody besides me remember that book written decades ago called MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? It is the life story of two brothers who end up living together into old age, and when they are found dead in their massive house, the house is so full of junk, the brothers had dug tunnels through it to get from room to room. There were something like 12 pianos and a complete automobile in that house. The book was based on the true story of similar brothers. It's by Marcia Davenport. Well, I'm not THAT BAD, but I could definitely stand to do some tossing out. I hope you get your new outfit!
My husband is a compulsive packrat, literally. It's considered a co-existing disorder with his ADD related to OCD. I am not saying this might be a problem for you. Clutter stresses me out, and the husband and I are constantly drawing new boundaries about what can stay and what must go. I did a huge de-cluttering last year, and it felt wonderful. More will go this year. It was just good for my soul.
YOU: I'm sure they're related in some Freudian Jungian cosmological way.
ME: ha, ha, ha, ha! I couldn't get this out of my mind after I left your journal. Thought I'd come back and tell you how much I liked it. That's so funny.
I'm kind of a pack-rat as well, so my friend and I joined FlyLady: www.flylady.com - she has a way to help you get clutter-free without real pain. My friend's house is the best it's been in 15 years! Mine, well, I broke my wrist - going to start over! Blessings, Penny
I wish I could adapt this policy to papers. I swear one day they'll find my rotting corpse buried under a pile of them. If not here at home, then in my office at work.
Thanks for stopping by my J. Sorry to take so long to come by. I was snowed under. I must confess that I found you a while back through Paul's J, but I thought you only wrote about your boat, or something such, and didn't think I could have anything much to add on that topic. Maybe it's just when I popped in you were talking about it??? :-) ---Robbie
Oh my goodness - I read "My Brother's Keeper" when I was about 12 and it scared the DAYLIGHTS out of me! You'da thought I would take a lesson, but I didn't. I fess up right here right now, that having stuff is comforting to me. I don't like clutter, but I don't like throwing things out, either. You never know when you might need something, like the plate I painted so appallingly badly some years ago at Color Me Mine. I actually threw it out this weekend. I think I had painted a duck on it, but I can't be sure exactly what that little white blob with a yellow dot on the side really was. I shall try to take a leaf out of your book - excellent idea, but I think it has to be more gradual - how about five things out for one thing in?
Good luck to you!
My Incentive http://www.livejournal.com/~vxv789/
I just had a wonderful time here in your journal. I found my way back here through a comment thread. I love your style of writing. I enjoyed reading about your Christmas....and the bubble lights you grandmother had....I especially enjoyed the entry about your trip with your grandmother to Colonial Williamsburg...that brought back memories of me going there as a child. I grew up in the Tidewater Virginia area...so it was a popular place for school day trips.
Happy New Year! I look forward to visiting you again!! I don't plan to loose my way again.
Vivian
That is a good policy, Robin, and I think I'm going to use it as a way to implement one or two of my own resolutions. Lisa :-]
Good Luck!!!! It's so difficult to take on a project like this, particularly when you do treasure so many of the things you have. I successfully decluttered when we renovated our basement, but there is always "stuff creep". The attic and the storage closet are full . . . but manageable. The garage, a disaster. But, my dh's imho. He can get rid of everything but the bikes as far as I'm concerned !!!
http://journals.aol.com/ckays1967/myjourneywithMS/entries/494
All I can say is oh wow.
as soon as fall got here and I couldn't get outside any more I decided to get rid of things too... I ended up really getting rid of things... to the missions, st vincent de pauls, good will , to the kids... anywhere but if I don't use it any more its gone... wish my weight was as easy to lose... I got rid of at least 40 bags of stuff, wish I could get rid of 40#s of stuff as easy, lol Good luck to you and once you get started tossing things you will be surprised how happy it will make you... not only to have a house that is neater but because you are giving to people who need it... Have fun! Sandra
I like to call all that "eclectic clutter." Everyonce in awhile I go on a rampage through my house banishing all this clutter to the trash bin. Now on the other hand, I have all my eclectic clutter here in my mind and when I need to clean it out, I find myself typing in my journal. It's all good :o)
Rebecca
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