Cleaning Up...and Out!!
Hellen Buttigieg of "Neat" fame asks, "what does it cost you to keep something?"
So today I cleaned everything up and out because I've decided it costs too much! My bedroom has been in a state of disarray since I started organizing last fall. Started the sort and then left sorted. Dust was collecting. It was impossible to vacuum very much of the room because boxes were everywhere.
Then my allergies really started bothering me. Constant head aches and watery eyes. A lot of it is hay fever, but how much is from all the dirt and pet hair accumulating in the impossible-to-vacuum room?!
Today I took advantage of my twins (who are grounded for cheating at school--they both turned in the same assignment for credit--literally, the same assignment!) and made them help. I threw out 4 or 5 garbage bags of stuff. Supplies I have given up thoughts of ever using. Projects I knew I would never complete.
I found some things I thought were lost forever. I pulled a bunch of things to sell--kits and patterns for quilts and other projects.
My room looks huge! It's 17 x 22-ish and it was looking small. Today, it is huge! lol I still have a few laundry baskets of things to sort thought. Embellishments, mostly. Little bits of yarn and lace I want to keep. My husband has his laundry basket to sort through. I can now get to my dresser so I can put some clothes away. (Although, to be honest, I could live every day by dressing from the clothes in the one pile!)
I feel lighter. I don't have a headache. I like the looks of a room that I can vacuum regularly and dust, too. I've got to keep everything off the floor!
My justification for keeping some things has been that I might want to do the craft or project "someday." I decided in the last few days that someday might not come, and if it does, I will only buy supplies for projects I am planning on working on immediately. I don't need to keep the soap-making kit I've had for 5+ years--if I really get the urge to make soap I'll go to Hobby Lobby when they have the supplies ultra-cheap and come home and make soap.
Another deterrent to getting rid of stuff has been that "someone might want this." But I need the stuff gone. Having it here with me is bringing me down. I might suffer some guilt for this later--I really believe in donating to charity--but I'll deal with those consequences if the guilt arrives!
So today I cleaned everything up and out because I've decided it costs too much! My bedroom has been in a state of disarray since I started organizing last fall. Started the sort and then left sorted. Dust was collecting. It was impossible to vacuum very much of the room because boxes were everywhere.
Then my allergies really started bothering me. Constant head aches and watery eyes. A lot of it is hay fever, but how much is from all the dirt and pet hair accumulating in the impossible-to-vacuum room?!
Today I took advantage of my twins (who are grounded for cheating at school--they both turned in the same assignment for credit--literally, the same assignment!) and made them help. I threw out 4 or 5 garbage bags of stuff. Supplies I have given up thoughts of ever using. Projects I knew I would never complete.
I found some things I thought were lost forever. I pulled a bunch of things to sell--kits and patterns for quilts and other projects.
My room looks huge! It's 17 x 22-ish and it was looking small. Today, it is huge! lol I still have a few laundry baskets of things to sort thought. Embellishments, mostly. Little bits of yarn and lace I want to keep. My husband has his laundry basket to sort through. I can now get to my dresser so I can put some clothes away. (Although, to be honest, I could live every day by dressing from the clothes in the one pile!)
I feel lighter. I don't have a headache. I like the looks of a room that I can vacuum regularly and dust, too. I've got to keep everything off the floor!
My justification for keeping some things has been that I might want to do the craft or project "someday." I decided in the last few days that someday might not come, and if it does, I will only buy supplies for projects I am planning on working on immediately. I don't need to keep the soap-making kit I've had for 5+ years--if I really get the urge to make soap I'll go to Hobby Lobby when they have the supplies ultra-cheap and come home and make soap.
Another deterrent to getting rid of stuff has been that "someone might want this." But I need the stuff gone. Having it here with me is bringing me down. I might suffer some guilt for this later--I really believe in donating to charity--but I'll deal with those consequences if the guilt arrives!
posted by susie kline @ 4/14/2006
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