Sunday, September 22, 2019

A Bit Closer to Minimalism; A Long Way to Go



This post should have been published in November 2018, but I just noticed that I had never hit publish and it was still in draft form.

It is interesting how something can become a habit, good or bad.  If you start sitting down with a bag of chips every time you watch television, soon you will feel like you need a snack every time the tube comes on.  If you start eating an apple every morning for breakfast, soon you don't feel right unless you have your apple.  Well, I find the same is true for decluttering.  For the past six weeks, minus time for illness, the thought would pass through my mind, "Have I purged five items today?". Now I find that thought still passing through my mind even though my month of decluttering five items per day is officially over.

I am seeing a bit more open space here and there and that space is very motivating.  Therefore, even though I'm not being rigid about it, I find myself still adding a few items to the donation area before I go to bed.  If I haven't reached my five item goal, I quickly zoom around the house and grab a few things.  My mindset has changed and letting go of things is much easier.  Being able to quickly decide about something is a very freeing feeling; exhilarating really.

Saturday will be donation day and so far I have three large black trash bags full, a lamp, and a brown grocery sack full.  I also have a box of teaching posters to donate along with two boxes of teaching supplies to donate.  I recycled three brown bags of teaching curriculum and lesson plan files.  I still have a lot of teaching related stuff to go through but that's a start.

My daughter even went through a bunch of stuff in her closet and came up with quite a few things to donate.  I always go through her donation bags and usually pick out a thing or two to set aside.  I know she gets caught up in the moment and sometimes goes overboard.  Several times she has seen something I 'saved' and asks, "Why do you have my ______?".  When I say she had it in the give-a-way bag, she'll reply, " Why would I get rid of that?"  Then she reclaims the item.

Of course dealing with the stuff in the house every day means that I know where progress has been made.  Sometimes other family members will notice something is different but basically they don't notice specifics.  Our house is not a hoarder situation but rather just areas of clutter in each room, such as the desk and surrounding area, the area next to my reading chair in the living room, the top of the pool table (mostly scrapbook stuff I categorized but haven't moved yet), the reading area downstairs, some shelves in the laundry room, and basically every flat surface except the breakfast table and dining table and kitchen island. They are contributors and thus are clutter-blind.

I have found that taking pictures of these areas/rooms really allows me to see what I need to tackle.  There is something about taking a picture of someone or event and noticing the background as much as the subject.  I would suggest you try the photo technique off and on as you work through your stuff toward your goal of a more minimalism home.  It really helps me to focus on one area.

Here is  pic from the last week of decluttering:  



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