Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

In my ongoing quest to de-clutter, I’ve made an interesting and somewhat disturbing discovery.  Closets are the exact antithesis of a black hole.  Why?  Simple.  If a black hole is someplace where things that enter get sucked into oblivion never to be seen again, then closets have no business being called black holes.  Why?  Because the items contained within multiply at such an alarming rate that before you know it, taking said items out of the closet could seriously jeopardize the square footage of the adjoining room.  And, in extreme circumstances, there wouldn’t be enough space in the adjoining room to house all the “stuff” pulled out of that closet.

My closet cleaning made me think of my stepmother, a lovely woman who’s house could pass the most rigorous white glove inspection.  Well…it could…so long as the one doing the inspecting didn’t risk life and limb, opening certain closet doors that revealed meticulously stacked items, which closely resembled strata rock layers, the date of when certain items had been wedged into the closet evident by which strata layer it was in.

LOL.

I was a teenager before I learned this “secret” about my stepmother’s housecleaning/organizational skills.  Funny thing was, when she absent-mindedly opened one of said stuffed-to-the-gills closets without thinking, I caught a glimpse of its interior.  My stepmother turned every imaginable shade of mortified red while I stood there in awe of the magnificent stacking job she’d done.  I was mesmerized by how in the heck the items in the closet, many of which might well have predated the dinosaurs, managed to remain in the closet, for they were so tightly crammed in, that one would think they’d be spring-loaded and explode like an opened can of prank snakes when an unsuspecting person opened the closet door.

Over the years of owning houses, I’ve jokingly said that, at times, any walk-in closet I had more closely resembled reach-in closets, for the volume of items contained within them prohibited me from actually stepping into the closet.  This hasn’t always been the case.  Whenever I notice my walk-in closets at risk of becoming reach-ins, a vision of my stepmother’s archeological dig closets comes to mind.  That’s when I set to de-cluttering them.  Course, at first glance, this seems like a simple enough task.  But then I begin pulling items out of the closet and am astounded by just how much “stuff” is contained within.  And that’s when I know…though I didn’t live with my stepmother daily, apparently, I was around her enough to have her overflowing closet tendency rub off on me—somewhat.  Some might think I’d get frustrated with this.  I don’t.  Instead, knowing that I share a common trait with my stepmother makes me smile.        

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Continuing the effort to de-clutter my life, I spent a good portion of this evening in my garage.  Waiting till the outdoor temperature “cooled” to a lovely (not) 97 degrees, I scaled ladders, reached over items too big to move out of the way and sorted through storage tote after storage tote full of…stuff.  So what was in those totes?  My remaining supplies from when I had a craft business years back and also an impressive collection of Easter baskets, grass, plastic eggs and decorations to make the holiday more “festive.”

I wasn’t sure if sorting through the items would make me sad or what.  Was pleasantly surprised at the journey down memory lane I took as I opened certain containers to find old craft items I’d made.  Or Easter baskets I’d created for our kids when they were young. 

Sifting through the craft items, I recalled, with fond memories, the many rainy days and other times my children and their friends would flock round me, begging to open the storage containers of craft items.  I had enough stuff in those totes to create my own craft store!  So, for a kid, the possibilities were endless.

As I went through the many containers of Easter décor, I smiled, recalling the fun my children had while setting up Easter villages I’d hand crafted when they were younger.  Or how they’d lovingly placed ceramic Easter decorations wherever they wanted to help stir the festive mood of the holiday.

Knowing the containers would unlock memories, I’d somewhat hesitated to go through them.  Aware that I’d be doing so alone didn’t help matters.  But not being one to shy away from a task, I dug in.  To my surprise, I enjoyed the process of de-cluttering.  Loading eleven 33-gallon trash bags full of items to be donated gave me a warm-all-over feeling, for I knew that rather than continuing to sit in my garage, the items would now be made available to those who would put them to good use. 

Despite the scorching temperatures I endured during my de-cluttering the garage, the project ended on a positive note.  Why?  For one simple reason.  What could be better than taking a stroll down memory lane and then being able to share items with others?      

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012

Not sure if I mentioned before how I have a jar of fortune cookie sayings that have impacted me.  I keep this jar on my desk where I frequently look at the sayings contained within.  A matching jar sits across my office.  In that jar are the fortunes that I’ve blogged about.  Reading through my fortunes today, I figured it was time to add another to the jar of ones blogged about. 

This fortune was simple.   It said: You find beauty in ordinary things.  Do not lose this ability.  When I originally got the fortune, I was struck with wondering how many folks are capable of this or…amongst those who are capable, how many take the time to do so. 

We live in a hustle-bustle world where the name of the game, for many, is to keep up with the Jones.  Everywhere one looks, we’re inundated with images that try to pressure us into buying more, expanding, being unsatisfied with the things we have that work perfectly well, instead being told they’re expendable and we’d be happier if only we had something bigger/better.

I come from a long line of individuals who took the time to see beauty in simple things.  By doing so, they, myself included, were able to rejuvenate old forgotten items that others had thrown away or wanted to sell for a discounted price. 

I’m currently at a point in my life where I’m massively de-cluttering.  Shedding tons of items acquired over my lifetime.  Some might think this would make me sad.  It doesn’t.  Instead, it makes it easier for me to focus on the beauty contained in the simpler things life offers.  How less is more.  How applying a little glue, elbow grease or whatever to make something that’s old new again brings me immense pleasure.  But most of all, I’m rediscovering the sheer joy of being able to see the majority of tabletop surfaces, empty wall space and large expanses of floor uncluttered by a lifetime of “stuff.”  Guess you could say I’m in a massive spring-cleaning mode where my aim is to focus on the beauty contained in ordinary things.