Dust, cobwebs, and Clutter

My name is Joyce. I am a clutter-bug.

I stood in my garage and looked around. "I need to get RID of so much stuff!" I thought. I HAVE gotten rid of stuff before. How did it get back in here?

To ensure my success, I ask my friend Betsy, to help me. It was overwhelming... I have stuff in there that is 35-45 years old. Any mother would understand... that precious little pair of over-rauls my daughter wore when she was 1 year old (she is now 47), that little red cow-boy hat that has lost all it's shape, which my son wore constantly when he was 2-3 years old (he is now 35).

I was immobilized... not knowing where to begin. I felt like I had cobwebs in my brain. I couldn't think. As Betsy opened trunks with old clothing & memories ... I felt drained... wiped out! Thank goodness I had the foresight to pull out a couple of lawn chairs because I soon found myself sinking into one. My body felt strange and heavy. When I opened my eyes, Betsy was pushing bottled water at me. "Hydrate!" she said. (She had warned me... "If you ask me to help, I WILL help!") And she WAS helping! I needed help!

What saved me ... we made a box for my son with his keepsakes & one for my daughter with her keepsakes. Now THEY will decide what they'd like to keep... That took the pressure off. (Of course we made a box for me too.)

"Do you really think you'll EVER wear this 35 yr old dress again?" Betsy asked. Into the Goodwill box the dress went. She laughed as she reached deep into a dusty box and pulled out a stack of 8 year old Sunset Magazines. "I don't need these now," I said and into the dumpster they went. (Although... now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if I should've at least looked at the pictures for my 2011 dream board? It's not too late... Betsy will never know!)

We sat in our chairs and thumbed through some old cookbooks which belonged to my Mom. The Home Menu Cook Book by Myrtle Calkins, (I love that name!) copyright 1934... a good example. The pictures alone were priceless! For once, Betsy & I agreed... we should get together & try some of the recipes.

There was no stopping that girl... relentless! But when she held up ..."Oh my goodness!" I screamed, "That is my original Dick and Jane reader!" I felt like I had found an old friend! "What ever will you do with this?" she asked. I grabbed my water bottle... hydrate!

The process of sorting... decluttering... discarding...

Raised by Depression-era parents, I was imbued with a "Save Everything" philosophy. So, this garage cleaning could take a very long time! Progress WAS made today, really,it was. But there's a long way to go!

Before she left, Betsy said, "Make paths... seperate what we've done, we'll do this one day a week until it's done!"

Clearing out what is no longer relevant to my life opens the way ... allows me to look at ALL parts of my life. I can see that what matters most to me is NOW... not the past.

"All those memories of things past can be a real deterrent to moving forward." -Ciji Ware. "If you're not moving forward, you're standing still." -unknown

Happy spring cleaning! Keep moving forward!