My house used to be fairly organized and tidy once upon a time. When I first bought my house 16 years ago, I had lived in another house for 14 years, and had a huge garage sale with a friend right before moving.
That process...of heaving out 14 years of "stuff" was horrendous and I vowed then that I would never, EVER let my house get so cluttered with things I "just couldn't throw out in case I needed them". But here I am again in the same state, asking myself..."Self...why do you hang on to so much stuff from the past, and things that you will likely never use?" (By the way, the picture at right is NOT my clutter, but a photo for illustration purposes only. But I can definitely relate!)
It was great when I first moved in to my present home. I remember the feeling once I got all the boxes unpacked that this was "my home", my first real home as it was the first time I had ever owned a house...or should I say, 'owed so much money to a mortgage company'. I was walking my dog one day in the park nearby, and could see my house in the distance, and I clearly remember having the thought "I'm a taxpayer! I have roots!"
I had always rented until then. But now I had something to call my own.
It had taken every last penny piece that I had, and there were those that told me I couldn't do it, I shouldn't do it, I'd regret it....but I'm glad I didn't listen to anything but my heart, because it turned out to be the best thing I ever did.
Anyway...back to the clutter! I hate to bring us back to that sorry topic, but I'm sure I'm not alone....(I watch Hoarders! Aren't those people incredible?) It's so sad really.
For me, it started to get out of hand a few years ago. I think I just had too much on my plate at the time. The last 15 years I'd say... (it started a year after I bought the house), have been one thing after another. Life altering events of different types. I won't go into all the gory details, some are outlined below...but believe me...a lot of it wasn't fun.
Add to that my work which was always stressful (Psychiatric Nurse), became even more so when we changed hands, and the new folks that ran the place hadn't got a clue! They put us through so many changes, and to cap it all put me on night shifts, that I hadn't worked in about 25 years! Plus, changed us all to 12 hr shifts, from our three 8 hr shifts of days, evenings and nights.
Eyes glazing over and a dreamy smile appearing at the mere thought: ...Ahhh, I used to love my evening shifts...sleep in in the morning, time to do stuff before work, get home at a reasonable time...and even though I worked 7 and 8 days in a row before my two days off, I could control my schedule because we did self-scheduling and once a month I gave myself four days off in a row (even better if it fell on a holiday week-end!)
Those blissful days disappeared with the advent of 12 hr shifts. I'd never worked them, but people who did said you either love them or hate them. I hated them. Our schedule sucked which was a big part of the problem, the master rotation they had us on, gave us little time off to recover from the 3 nights in a row we had to do. Flipping back and forth between days and nights was a killer, and especially for nurses like me in their later years, having worked their a** off for decades, bodies more creaky and not as able to spring back like the young ones! Even the latter complained how tired they were!
So...back to the clutter! (grin) I'm trying to lay out my reasons (excuses) why things got the way they did. It was a gradual process. Oh yes, and did I mention... that I was in a long distance relationship that caused me to travel in between the shift work?
Looking back I don't know how I stayed sane. My mom died during this time, my partner got cancer and thankfully is now doing fine. I had a LOT going on in my life! Enough of the pity party for myself! :)
Okay....the clutter! See how I procrastinate? I have books on clutter, that I read when I'm busy procrastinating, and I know the rules. Such as set a timer for a reasonably short period of time, work in one room or area, have three boxes of Toss, Donate, and Keep, that's so you don't leave the room with an item and then get side-tracked in some other part of the house! Start with smaller areas first, drawers, cupboards, etc. I won't go into the lists, as you can read the books for yourself, or watch any number of t.v. shows about de-clutterng.
But you have to start somewhere. I want my art room back, so I'm slowly trying to change it's "Junk Room" status, and make it the place I will enjoy creating in once again. I know I'll have to find a place for the junk, whether I give it away or throw it out, or find a way to organize it and keep it...it's tough to part with my stuff that I have clung to for years. They say if you don't "love it", or don't use it, you should get rid of it!
I know all of this, still...I am making slow progress only...sigh...but I won't give up!
Even a little progress, is still progress, and inch by inch I am starting to see positive change and it feels good. Below are four books on this subject matter, the first one I have and I like it's Feng Shui approach, the others get good reviews too. Good luck to all of you out there, and if you have any tips or encouraging words, please leave a message below.
