You guys, I have a problem. A clutter problem. It’s interfering with my life. It’s blocking my chi or my shui or something. I’d show you a picture but it’s too humiliating.
I have this “just in case” mentality. I can’t throw anything away because I might need it someday. You just never know when you’re going to need pearlescent lime green eyeshadow, but if that situation were to arise, I’m prepared.
As I write, on my desk there sits a corkboard, two coffee mugs (on coasters, naturally), a Glade plug-in, a pair of earplugs, a piggy bank, a framed sentiment, my camera, a stack of cds, a tube of bronzer, a necklace, cocktail ring, and pair of earrings, a hairpin, a lamp, a plate, a bottle of allergy eyedrops, my checkbook, some junk mail, ShrinkyDinks I made a few years ago, two tubes of lipgloss, hand cream, nail polish, a Virgin Mary candle, a notebook, a packet of vitamins, my printer’s instruction manual, a box of tissues, a bottle of Pepsi, a few floating Post-It notes, a 3×5 storage box, and (ironically) a desk organizer. Oh, and a toy chicken and this computer.
It’s not like I have a big desk or anything. It’s a normal-sized desk. I have a normal-sized desk and an abnormal organizational disorder.
And let’s not talk about what’s on the bed and on the floor and in the closet because I don’t even know, ok?
Heeeeeeelp!
Ooh. It really IS hard to start the process of becoming a de-junker. Really. I've taken tips from Marci, though, who is so good at getting rid of things on a regular basis. If she isn't using it regularly, she gets rid of it.
When I say to myself, "OK, I'm going to get rid of stuff," and then I find something(s) and I say, "Oh, but what if I need this in a month or two? That's why I kept it in the first place...", those are the things I always throw away. Though there is some pain in it, it feels so much better to have a clutter-free home, a place where things are used ALL THE TIME.
Here, here's a post of a lady who just inspired me to get rid of about half of the kitchen utensils I owned because I wasn't using them. I mean, really, did I need 10 differently-sized mixing spoons? Or 12 different knives? No. And I didn't; I threw them away that night and I don't miss them ONE BIT.
Anyway, here's the links. She is excessively country, which I know isn't your style, but look past the antique quilts and chickens she has all over her blog and you'll see she's excellent at being organized in a small space.
Link 1 (keep reading on this one...it was her challenge almost at the end that made me really get up and do something about life) Link 2
Try it! It works.
Darn. I had that comment so well-written, and now I see it's all jumbled into one big mess of a huge paragraph. Sorry.