I have added a new "label" to the Delhi Bound blog. (A label is something that helps YOU find the content you want. It is displayed on this blog over to the right. The larger words/phrases are the ones that have the most written content).
That label is "has nothing to do with India"
Feel free to just skip over this post if you're reading Delhi Bound because of all of the exciting experiences we are having, all of the wonderful vacations we're taking and all of the amazing volunteer opportunities we are given.
This is simply a post about all of the crap that I have accumulated, collected and stored in the past years of living this life.
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Naomi Seldin wrote about 20 great ways to create clutter and then there's this equally interesting article about the simplicity of your possessions fitting in all of six boxes.
I feel like on constantly on two very different quests when it comes to matters of possessions and "stuff."
On one hand, I have always been a pat rack. Because this is just 'part of who I am', I often give myself a bit of extra leeway when it comes to continuing my mindless collections of crap. I love thrift stores and garage sales ... and always think that I'm more creative than is realistically possible when it comes to repurposing found or shared items. If something has a broken strap, I say "I can fix that" or if a nightstand is in bad shape, I think "I'll just sand it down, re-stain it, add some decoupage and use it in the bedroom."
Yea right! Most often, those "projects" end up in a pile somewhere, most often in the middle of our living space, taking up room, taking AWAY from the visual aesthetics and even the functionality of our home.
On the other hand, a life of less clutter majorly appeals to me. When we moved from Ohio to Delhi, the task of packing, sorting and purging was time consuming and sometimes painful. We relegated some of our things to the storage unit (where it has sat, untouched and unseen, for two years), watched the Salvation Army truck haul two truckloads away, set many a sad, weary piece of furniture at the curb on garbage day, and split up our pantry among some close friends.
(If you want to read more about our packing/shipping process, read here)
I thought that we had adequately purged the house of the unnecessary things and really had in mind that the new house in Delhi would be ... less cluttered.
Joke's on me.
I have accumulated more CRAP in the last two years then I thought was possible. The thought of purging this house - and I mean properly PURGING it - is exhausting.
Today I counted 48 stuffed animals residing in the kids' bedroom. There are probably thousands and thousands of Lego pieces (although at least they are all in one central place!). Way too many cases of movies on DVD take up space on a bookshelf in the living room.
Bags (plastic, canvas, paper, fabric) upon bags upon bags spill over the wire shelving in the kitchen. We have board games that we will likely NEVER play (since the reality of Family Game Night is fighting, arguments and whining). I have more running gear than I will ever use (especially since it's been months since I've said hello to the treadmill).
Anyway, you get my point.
In mid-January, I "purged" the house and took several large boxes to the AWA Thrift Store. In late February, I did it again - overwhelmed by too much stuff. The middle of March, I somehow found three large trash bags of things spread around the house that we really did NOT need.
Here I am in early April and as I look around the bedrooms, living space and play room, I am again reminded that a purging needs to happen ... and maybe this time a REAL one?
I'm tempted to try a suggestion I read about long ago. You take several cardboard boxes and write a date ONE MONTH in the future (i.e. a box done today would be labeled May 5th) on the side with a sharpie. You fill ALL of the boxes with random STUFF that you possibly could do without, but can't quite let go of at that very moment.
You then seal the boxes and put them in a closet somewhere. Mark on your calendar that same date (May 5th) and then ON that date, simply take the box(es) to your local thrift store.
Do not open the boxes, do not give in to temptation.
If you're like me, you just read that and thought ... if you got the dang box filled and subsequently SEALED in the first place, why not just take it right then and there to the thrift shop? I guess maybe it gives you the opportunity to sit with the fear that you are getting rid of something you may need in the future? I don't know ... even as I typed that, the whole concept feels a bit silly.
That reminds me of the suggestion about your clothes. Perhaps you've heard this one? Flip the hangers the opposite way of how you normally hang them. Mark a date six months in the future (depending on how often the weather/seasons change where you live). Anything that is still "flipped the wrong way" after that six months goes immediately in a donate pile. The thought there is that if the hanger is still flipped, you haven't worn it in six months, and therefore you don't need it.
Think it would work for you? Are you a packrat? Do you have too much clutter in your house? Which room gives you the most fits when it comes to too much stuff?
Any brilliant suggestions for me as I work towards less clutter and more productiveness and simplicity?
