Yes, it's a yard sale!
Knowing of the clutter crisis I was facing, last Saturday, my friend Connie was kind enough to invite me to join in on her family yard sale fun. It wound up being a beautiful day. I got to spend several hours with some friends, made a few bucks, and best of all ... I got rid of enough "stuff" to make a noticeable difference in my de-cluttering project. Most cool.Meanwhile, back at the office ... the scene of the clutter crime ... look at this view of what we have accomplished so far!
I say "we" have accomplished because I couldn't have gotten this much done without all of you supporting me.
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been a lot of surprising schedule changes and some unexpected, added commitments. While it was mostly good stuff, it still stole time away from The Project. Each time that I stood in my office doorway ~ lamenting that yet another day had gone by with nothing accomplished ~ I felt more and more like I was losing sight of my vision of a clutter-free, peaceful place to work.
Isn't that how we get side-tracked from many of our personal goals and projects? When our lives require us to re-prioritize our To Do List, it is often the thing which we are doing just for ourselves that gets re-prioritized to the very bottom of the list. And, once we are at the bottom of the list, it's pretty easy for us to slip off of that list all together. That is, unless we have someone ~ or better yet a few someones ~ to help us get back on track.
Thankfully, all I had to do was look back at my previous conversations with you to be reminded of how far I have come, and thus, recapture the vision and the energy to pick up where I left off. For instance, I was reminded from the pictures I took for our conversations that my file cabinet used to look like this. Notice that mess strewn across the top.
Now, after a lot of picking up, sorting through, tossing out, shredding and recycling, consolidating and re-filing, the top of my filing cabinet looks like this.
That filing holder now neatly holds information on current projects. And, inside of the top drawer, it now looks like this. Trust me, the bottom drawer looks equally neat and organized.
I was also reminded about this chaotic pile of clutter that stretched from beside my desk, straight along the wall, in between that bookcase and the couch, and right up to the wall behind the couch.
And now, it has been reduced to these three separate "staging" piles.
The middle pile contains things for my granddaughter to use in her very first apartment, which she is search right now. The box of books to the right will be donated. And once those two piles are gone, the remaining pile will become another decorative hidden storage solution. I just love creating those!
And as I complete this walk down "Remind Myself Lane," we arrive back to the place where we left off last time. At this somewhat organized, mostly boxed-up, bookcase full of clutter, which I have named the "Guilty as Charged Case."
"Yes, that is my clutter! I confess, I did it.
But, I was insane at the time!"
But, I was insane at the time!"
Hey, you have to find humor wherever you can in this process.
And, that may be the most important key ~ the "get out of clutter free" key. To find humor within ourselves and with others. And, to seek out support from friends and family who can help us see the progress we are making, particularly when we are incapable of seeing it ourselves.
When our personal projects are quickly falling toward the bottom of our To Do List, the best "To Do" that we can make ourselves actually Do is to get on the phone with someone who will make us laugh. And better than just talking on the phone, we need to invite someone over, with whom we can comically sneer at that "Guilty as Charged Case" even when all we want to do is beat our fists against it and burst into tears. Okay, maybe that was just a little too melodramatic. But you get the idea.
So now, as I begin the fifth week of a project that I had anticipated would take "at least three weeks," I have written a new "To Do" right at the top of my list. And, I've already done it! I called and left a message for the friend with whom I usually laugh the most. When she calls back, I'm going to invite her over to help me laugh my way through a good portion of my "Guilty as Charged Case."
She is going to do for me what I try to do for my clutter clients. When their de-clutter project feels like it's just too much and they start losing sight of their original vision, I find reasons for us to laugh.
And we all absolutely need to laugh ... at our clutter and ourselves. We need to ask ourselves and our laughing friend, "What was I thinking?" as we shake our heads and put that "whatever" into the "It's a Goner Box". We need to keep ourselves light as our de-cluttering process begins to lighten the atmosphere of the room around us.
And this approach is not only applicable to our "clutter crimes". Sharing humor with a trusted friend or family member can get us through some of the most challenging times of our lives.
When our personal projects are quickly falling toward the bottom of our To Do List, the best "To Do" that we can make ourselves actually Do is to get on the phone with someone who will make us laugh. And better than just talking on the phone, we need to invite someone over, with whom we can comically sneer at that "Guilty as Charged Case" even when all we want to do is beat our fists against it and burst into tears. Okay, maybe that was just a little too melodramatic. But you get the idea.
So now, as I begin the fifth week of a project that I had anticipated would take "at least three weeks," I have written a new "To Do" right at the top of my list. And, I've already done it! I called and left a message for the friend with whom I usually laugh the most. When she calls back, I'm going to invite her over to help me laugh my way through a good portion of my "Guilty as Charged Case."
She is going to do for me what I try to do for my clutter clients. When their de-clutter project feels like it's just too much and they start losing sight of their original vision, I find reasons for us to laugh.
And we all absolutely need to laugh ... at our clutter and ourselves. We need to ask ourselves and our laughing friend, "What was I thinking?" as we shake our heads and put that "whatever" into the "It's a Goner Box". We need to keep ourselves light as our de-cluttering process begins to lighten the atmosphere of the room around us.
And this approach is not only applicable to our "clutter crimes". Sharing humor with a trusted friend or family member can get us through some of the most challenging times of our lives.
So I invite you to take a moment.
What is on your To Do List that
could be helped along by a bit of humor?
Now call that laughter-filled friend or relative,
and make a date to laugh away
your most challenging pile of clutter
or
to lighten your heaviest inner feelings.
May your "It's a Goner Box" be filled with
things you no longer want or need.
May your heart be filled with memories of
a "laugh till you cry" day with someone dear to you.
And most of all, don't forget to take some pictures.
Peace & Light to You,
Jae
What is on your To Do List that
could be helped along by a bit of humor?
Now call that laughter-filled friend or relative,
and make a date to laugh away
your most challenging pile of clutter
or
to lighten your heaviest inner feelings.
May your "It's a Goner Box" be filled with
things you no longer want or need.
May your heart be filled with memories of
a "laugh till you cry" day with someone dear to you.
And most of all, don't forget to take some pictures.
Peace & Light to You,
Jae
No comments:
Post a Comment