Progress feels good, very good. I want to keep going, but I'm feeling overwhelmed by other tasks. I need to work on beads for a class I will be teaching soon. I want to keep working on projects for a gallery show that is coming up soon (hoping I will be notified this week that my work has been accepted). I also need to wash a lot of dishes and a lot of laundry. Yes, I guess the dishes and laundry are part of the cleaning and simplification process. So maybe I just need to give up part of the cleaning time to work on my artistic stuff. That sounds better anyway.
Yeah, I'm still at it, just slowing the progress a bit. I can handle that.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Fear and progress
I almost chickened out the othe day. One special friend was scheduled to help me begin the process of gutting the house. As I took my dog to daycare and headed to the store for soup and bread to serve for lunch, I panicked. Could I really open myself and my home to anyone, even a friend? I had finally reached a state of disgust with my mess and myself, but was I ready to expose that to someone else? Determination to overcome my inertia finally overcame my fear. My friend arrived and we began.
We just began. I wasn't sure where to start, and neither was my friend. We talked for a few minutes and tried to arrive at a strategy. I knew I wasn't ready to "follow the book" and begin with clothes. Marie Kongo in The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, suggests that the wardrobe is key to beginning. There was no way to go that route. So, we began with paper. I still have two boxes of shredables from the list time I cleaned. I now have two more. I also have a full recycling bin and an over-flowing garbage can. The process was not painful. My friend and I talked for the four hours we spent going through magazines, advertisements, bills, and every other imaginable incarnation of paper. Yes, we did break for soup and bread; we had been sure to clean a portion of the dining room table for ourselves.
I wanted to quit once or twice, but having someone else here helped me push aside those thoughts as quickly as they came. I tried to ignore the big picture which would have revealed how much more needs to be done. I kept my focus entirely on the task at hand. I felt good. By the time my friend left, I wanted a nap. Later on that day, as I returned from picking up my dog, walking back into my house felt good. While I had made only minimal progress toward winnowing down my stuff, I still could see a difference.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of progress, though, came through my dog's reaction. He was confused, unsettled, and curious. I don't think he just smelled that my friend had been in his space. He had new territory to smell. He had more space to wander. He has no idea what chanel are yet to come.
Oh, I don't know how to fix that italics problem while using my tablet. Maybe I'll try to use the old desktop computer later. Sorry.
We just began. I wasn't sure where to start, and neither was my friend. We talked for a few minutes and tried to arrive at a strategy. I knew I wasn't ready to "follow the book" and begin with clothes. Marie Kongo in The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, suggests that the wardrobe is key to beginning. There was no way to go that route. So, we began with paper. I still have two boxes of shredables from the list time I cleaned. I now have two more. I also have a full recycling bin and an over-flowing garbage can. The process was not painful. My friend and I talked for the four hours we spent going through magazines, advertisements, bills, and every other imaginable incarnation of paper. Yes, we did break for soup and bread; we had been sure to clean a portion of the dining room table for ourselves.
I wanted to quit once or twice, but having someone else here helped me push aside those thoughts as quickly as they came. I tried to ignore the big picture which would have revealed how much more needs to be done. I kept my focus entirely on the task at hand. I felt good. By the time my friend left, I wanted a nap. Later on that day, as I returned from picking up my dog, walking back into my house felt good. While I had made only minimal progress toward winnowing down my stuff, I still could see a difference.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of progress, though, came through my dog's reaction. He was confused, unsettled, and curious. I don't think he just smelled that my friend had been in his space. He had new territory to smell. He had more space to wander. He has no idea what chanel are yet to come.
Oh, I don't know how to fix that italics problem while using my tablet. Maybe I'll try to use the old desktop computer later. Sorry.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Monday, January 4, 2016
A New Year, A New Outlook
No, I did not resolve to clean house this year. That would have given me 365 days to get the job done. Of course, I'd continue to procrastinate, so I am working on a new outlook.
I want visitors. I want to be able to call a friend or neighbor and say, "Come on over for ..." I can't do that now. Yes, true friends should love me and not be concerned with my mess; however, I know the mess is a detractor. So today, the first Monday of 2016, I am beginning to get rid of some of the clutter. I am not attached to any of the stuff being cleared away at this point. This is truly clutter: unopened junk mail, fliers, magazines, empty boxes, etc. The meaningful items will come later.
Tuesdays are trash pickup days. My goal is to fill my 32 gallon recycle bin, fill my 32 gallon trash can, and fill at least one heavy duty construction bag. That may not seem like much, but it IS.
So just a short entry today. I'm off to fill those receptacles and drag them to the alley.
I suppose I should really consider photographing some of this process. Before pictures will be painful, but I think I need to see the evidence. Clearly I am not seeing it on a daily basis. Now I have a new aspect of all of this to consider. Ugh.
I want visitors. I want to be able to call a friend or neighbor and say, "Come on over for ..." I can't do that now. Yes, true friends should love me and not be concerned with my mess; however, I know the mess is a detractor. So today, the first Monday of 2016, I am beginning to get rid of some of the clutter. I am not attached to any of the stuff being cleared away at this point. This is truly clutter: unopened junk mail, fliers, magazines, empty boxes, etc. The meaningful items will come later.
Tuesdays are trash pickup days. My goal is to fill my 32 gallon recycle bin, fill my 32 gallon trash can, and fill at least one heavy duty construction bag. That may not seem like much, but it IS.
So just a short entry today. I'm off to fill those receptacles and drag them to the alley.
I suppose I should really consider photographing some of this process. Before pictures will be painful, but I think I need to see the evidence. Clearly I am not seeing it on a daily basis. Now I have a new aspect of all of this to consider. Ugh.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
In the beginning
In the beginning there was a house, an almost perfect little house in an almost perfect small town. I bought the house two weeks after 9/11. Who buys a house when the whole country is reeling in the aftermath of destruction? I did. But that's not what this blog is all about.
In the beginning, December 2015, after fourteen years, the house has seen many changes. Details of those changes will emerge along with the saga of each room. After fourteen years, the almost perfect little house looks beautiful outside, but inside it is a mess. I am not a textbook hoarder. I have no trouble parting with things. I just don't do it. Things pile up. And pile up. And pile up. Right now there are paths through some of the rooms. Even my dog know where he can and cannot walk. Usually having things around me doesn't bother me; right now, however, I am almost at my breaking point.
I was here a few months ago, too. I bravely and humbly reached out to some special friends and asked them to help me clean my house. Four friends came and spent hours here, successfully transforming a few rooms. Another friend came on a different day, and we tackled yet another room. Unfortunately, they, we, and I never finished. While I tried to maintain the newly cleaned and organized space, I was not up to the task. I could cite any number of excuses, but to me the main problem was the unfinished state of the space. You see, I have great difficulty finishing the things I start.
Now two very special friends have offered their assistance in tackling the task that I call The House. My goal is simp,ification. I do not need all these things. The things I do need deserve to be treated well. Those things also deserve to exist in an organized environment. So the is the beginning. I am determined to conquer the challenge of The House.
Since the goal is The House and not this blog, I should be doing tasks of cleaning, organizing, and simplifying more often than writing. The blog is meant to keep me honest. Follow along if you choose. Perhaps any transformation in my life will have some impact on yours.
In the beginning, December 2015, after fourteen years, the house has seen many changes. Details of those changes will emerge along with the saga of each room. After fourteen years, the almost perfect little house looks beautiful outside, but inside it is a mess. I am not a textbook hoarder. I have no trouble parting with things. I just don't do it. Things pile up. And pile up. And pile up. Right now there are paths through some of the rooms. Even my dog know where he can and cannot walk. Usually having things around me doesn't bother me; right now, however, I am almost at my breaking point.
I was here a few months ago, too. I bravely and humbly reached out to some special friends and asked them to help me clean my house. Four friends came and spent hours here, successfully transforming a few rooms. Another friend came on a different day, and we tackled yet another room. Unfortunately, they, we, and I never finished. While I tried to maintain the newly cleaned and organized space, I was not up to the task. I could cite any number of excuses, but to me the main problem was the unfinished state of the space. You see, I have great difficulty finishing the things I start.
Now two very special friends have offered their assistance in tackling the task that I call The House. My goal is simp,ification. I do not need all these things. The things I do need deserve to be treated well. Those things also deserve to exist in an organized environment. So the is the beginning. I am determined to conquer the challenge of The House.
Since the goal is The House and not this blog, I should be doing tasks of cleaning, organizing, and simplifying more often than writing. The blog is meant to keep me honest. Follow along if you choose. Perhaps any transformation in my life will have some impact on yours.
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