Chapter 2 – The Summer of Progress
This first
victory spurred me on to tackle other areas of the house one by one. I next went to the kitchen which most
professional organizers will tell you is a mistake. The kitchen is not for amateurs. It is a big complicated area. However, in this case, ignorance worked for
me. Getting the kitchen under control
was a foundational piece for me to conquer.
I broke the area into smaller goals and used the same process – take
everything out, sort, purge, put things in other rooms, clean, and put items back. At this point I found it very helpful to seek
out support. I joined a facebook group
based around decluttering. I began to
share my journey with pictures, comments, and questions. People were very affirming of my
efforts. I got tons of pats on the back
and lots of great advice. This spurred
me on.
As I worked
on in the kitchen I was not just sorting my own items. I had numerous pans and gadgets that had
belonged to my mom when she lived with us several years back. When she died, I gave away a lot of her stuff
but held on to some things “in case I needed them” or “until I find someone who
can use it”. Now I had to overcome these
two very common reasons for holding on to stuff. First I admitted that ‘in case of’ had not
happened in five years so chances were it wouldn’t. If I ever needed those items I could borrow
or repurchase them. I could not save
everything and have a calm, clean, workable space. I had to choose. I chose peace. The second realization was that I might not
find that perfect person who needed my items.
However, if I donated them the universe might make a connection that
certainly was not going to happen with the item hiding in my cabinet. Once I was able to overcome these roadblocks
I received a joyous surprise. I loved giving
things away! Every bag I took to a
thrift store or shelter made me smile. I
enjoyed knowing that now people who needed these items could get them for free
or a reduced price. I felt like it was a
service to humanity. I began to count
the bags. I was curious how many
13-gallon trash bags of unused stuff I could remove from my house. That summer the bags piled up quickly and
each one gone created more breathing room in my home.
One day I
sorted out some cut glass serving platters I had never used. They were pretty and I valued them but
truthfully, they were doing me no good.
I decided to take them to church and give them away. I knew several ladies who do fancy dinners
and I thought they would be overjoyed to receive my gifts. One or two of the dishes were picked up
quickly but the last one almost didn’t find a home. That day I learned a lesson about objects –
not everyone will love my stuff or even the same stuff as I do. In fact, stuff is just stuff. It was a pretty plate, but it was just a
thing. In that moment I let go a little
more of my attachment to things.
Each
time I got to the ‘put it back’ stage of my process it was like a puzzle. I had to figure out how to best make the
pieces fit. I used certain guidelines. First of all I put like items together. Then I considered easy access and
visibility. My husband has the “out of
sight, out of mind” concept embedded in his psyche. If he can’t see an item or find it quickly,
he buys another one. So, I had to put
things he uses in visible or easily accessed places. This makes my kitchen counter more cluttered
than I would prefer, but it does keep peace in the household.
As
I was organizing I also incorporated another concept from The House That Cleans Itself.
It’s called creating stations. My
family has a problem. We have spent countless hours looking (often
unsuccessfully) for one of the twenty plus pairs of scissors I know we own. The author suggests creating groups of items
near where they will be used. For
instance tape, wrapping paper, tags, and scissors should all be together in the
room you most often wrap presents. In
this way some duplicate items are helpful.
For instance I now keep scissors in a kitchen drawer, at my desk, and at
the girls’ homework area. However, too
many duplicates is just clutter. Over
the years I made the mistake of keeping anything I thought was useful. As I purged this time I acknowledged that no
house needed hundreds of pens and pencils.
I filled stations in various rooms and donated the rest. I might need them in the far-distant future,
but someone else could use them today.
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