Oh, dear. As much as I want to be an ostrich and stick my head in the sand (hmm…I’ll have to ask Tim about the legitimacy of that analogy), with THIS post and THIS post in my email this morning, I am obviously going to have to face my reluctance to declutter. I will be consumed with frustration this whole entire month if every day I am reading about how fabulous decluttering is and I still resist doing it.
As usual, I want to get down to the real reasons I don’t want to declutter so I can have a genuine change in attitude and not just put a bandage on the issue. I love that Flylady encourages us to do that. So, ONE reason that I think I am stubborn about decluttering is that I have the wrong mental image of what it is. When I think of decluttering, my image is of me holding two tiny infant outfits in my hands, gazing longingly at them, remembering how each of the now-older children looked wearing them, knowing that no one else would ever put them on their children because of the stains around the neck, and having to decide to throw them away. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? Who wants to intentionally put herself through that emotional agony just to have a tidier house? Not me!
However, I believe the reality is that there is a ton of stuff in my house to which I actually have little-to-no emotional attachment that can be tossed or recycled. To test this theory, I will set my timer for 15 minutes and see if I can declutter without causing myself agony. I’ll let you know what happens. Ready, set…go!
Tags: decluttering
365 Days with Flylady 
February 4, 2010 at 8:45 pm |
It is tough because we do have emotional attachment to stuff but it is just stuff. I remember when we decided to travel and live in a motor home for three years, I had to really cut down on things. I decided not to store too much so I had the most organized wardrobe I have ever had and never missed not having all those clothes. I always had the ones I kept, clean and ready to wear and when I opened my closet, the struggle about what to wear was gone. It was a revelation. I did the same with cookware and dishes. It is amazing how many things we think we need when in fact we don’t.
But now I find myself collecting stuff and I need to go through that process all over again. Need it, Really love it, or out it goes. It really is freeing to have only what you need or love around you.