Long story short, my organization was pretty last-minute in announcing the Juneteenth federal holiday last week, so I ended up with a day off today (Monday).
I very well could have worked– lord knows there’s plenty of it to get done. That’s just not something I felt compelled to do, even though I did get online for a meeting and knocked a few things out by 10:00.
On Sunday, I’d gotten into a groove with some decluttering. Of course, the one month of the year I took decluttering off my goal list, I blow it out of the water. But anyway, I was on a roll with some paper sorting and was able to part with a lot of old things.
When I realized I didn’t really have to work today, I rejoiced and went back to more decluttering.
It’s been hard. Upstairs looks pretty good, but downstairs is an absolute treasure trove of STUFF. It’s split between mine, my husband’s, and my late mother’s. I’m responsible for two of those categories.
There were some tears today (I parted with a baby book my mom had written out for me), but I find that with major work stress and overall disappointment, moving some stagnant things out of the house feels pretty good. I crave a feeling of flexibility and freedom. Not to mention, the more I have, the more I feel responsible for. That’s not something on my list of “wants” right now.
If I wanted to downsize or drop everything to go live in an RV with my husband and dog, we would lose interest in the idea before even getting through all of our stuff. That’s how much it is. We have about 2,000 sq ft of living space here, and while it looks generally organized, there’s a LOT of hidden clutter.
We’re both a bit sentimental about things from our childhood. Books, toys, birthday cards from Mom and Dad. I lost my mom a few years ago, and my husband’s family lives overseas, so it’s been a struggle to say goodbye to a lot of things from them. My husband even has a hard time letting ME let go of things. He’s pulled more than one item out of the “donate” bin before or gotten upset that I wanted to part with something he’d given me as a gift in the past.
Also, has anyone else gained the Quarantine Fifteen? There are hardly any clothes in my closet that fit me right now. So I’m torn between being comfortable this summer or saving money and trying to get back into shape. So silly, but that adds to the stress of STUFF too because so much is going unused.
But I’m hoping little steps in the right direction will add up over time. I know Marie Kondo encourages one big extreme event, which is likely effective for many. But it becomes overwhelming really quickly, so I’ve been splitting into more bite-size pieces.
More to follow– it’s a year-long goal to knock out 2 hours per month of decluttering (or 24 hours for the year). I’m probably already at about 16 hours for the year. It doesn’t look like much has really been done, but I think I’ve gotten some good practice in decision-making under my belt.
What’s been the hardest thing for you to part with?
-K