This weekend, I got rid of much of my clutter. I’ve been trying to clear my clutter for a long time, but a lot of it is gone. I’m not a 100% neat freak now (I don’t think I could ever be), but I can breathe a sigh of relief that I’m not holding on to items I wouldn’t miss if a fire burned down my home. I’ve been getting rid of items here and there: I don’t have my CD’s anymore (I donated those a month ago to Goodwill), and I donated 60% of my book inventory to another charity.
It’s weird how people telling you to deal with clutter can have no effect. There is shame, as friends and family could make you ashamed of your clutter, but that’s not enough to inspire action. A year ago, when my mother stopped by my apartment to drop some things off, she had to go to the bathroom. Normally, she wouldn’t even step inside since the place was often a nightmare, but she urgently had to go to bathroom and went in. I was mortified, but that didn’t prompt any change. Over the years, she has gotten on my case about my messiness, and still no effect. Until now.
This time, my mother shoved a book into my hands. This is not her style, but she read a book on the clutter issue in Japanese, and found the English edition for me. So here is where I plug the book: Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston.
I’ve never gotten into Feng Shui, but a lot of what she says about the clutter issue is spot on. In fact, much of what she says about messiness and accumulating things is common sense and it almost begs the question of if the book is really necessary. However, what I learned isn’t so much new as it is motivation and insight. I’m still not into Feng Shui, but at least the book helped me get rid of much of the stuff I’ve been holding on to for too long.
If only I took care of this sooner than later. How many times have I turned friends away because my place was a disaster? I’ve lost a friendship over clutter, but I now know the clutter wasn’t the true cause of the falling out, but other unresolved issues. The physical clutter only exacerbated the emotional in this case.
I know I’m not the only one clearing out the clutter. Joshua Minton has been clearing out stuff he, his wife, and son have accumulated over the years, and he has a picture of the dumpster to prove it. In his case, interestingly, the stuff wasn’t willing to let him go as much as he was. Read and see how freaky that is! Josh, I hope you inspire others to get rid of their crap!
I don’t have pictures of a dumpster, but I will show you one casualty of my clutter: my favorite shirt. My clutter problem has not been limited to my living space and car, but also my pockets. I would often leave pens in my trouser pockets and forget about them, resulting in some ink stained clothes emerging from the laundry. Some have been easier to rehabilitate than others. The last load where this happened was absolutely hopeless, so I threw them out, including this shirt.
This is just one of several ink stains that made made the shirt unwearable. I’ve had the shirt for a few years, and I loved the pattern, but the pen getting uncapped in the wash forced the issue of it going bye bye. Plus, fall season is around the corner and the sales will be a perfect opportunity to find fabulous replacements.
I also got rid of some trousers I’ve been holding on to as “skinny pants.” A few years ago, I lost some weight, went down a few pant sizes, and bought pants that fit and looked great. Unfortunately, I’ve gained that weight back, so these remained in my closet as my “skinny pants” for when I drop the pounds. Kingston’s book reinforced the idea it isn’t good to hold on to tight clothes, and the best way to deal with it is to get pants that fit when I lose the weight.
For the past year, I’ve been holding on to five DVD’s in my Netflix subscription. I checked them out last August, and I’ve only watched only one of them. I can’t believe I’ve spent all that money to hold on to those DVD’s when I could have bought them, plus some. I only had one return envelope, so I mailed two of them back to Netflix, cleared out my queue from 300+ to only forty movies I really want to watch. Now, I get to see Strangers with Candy (the movie) and some Kids in the Hall Episodes. As for the Floating Weeds? Let them float, far, far away from me.
I feel much better now. I’ve been less motivated to turn the boob tube on (unless it’s Eureka or Monday night Enterprise re-runs). I spent more hours watching TV before because it was a distraction from the clutter. Now things are off the floor, not taking up too much space in my closet or my life. I still have a good number of books that need reading, some DVD’s and VHS tapes should be watched, and a few items to return to people. With less clutter in my life, I can focus on important things such as lesson plans, teaching, and writing.
