Misadventures of a Pack Rat, Day 2

I cleaned out the clothes boxes I keep under my bed yesterday and filled a bag with nine summer tops, four pairs of pants, a swim suit wrap and two sweaters from my closet.  I was able to condense everything that was left from the two boxes down into one.  I know I probably could have taken out more but I’m pleased with what I was able to let go of today.   It’s a start and I feel encouraged enough to continue on.

Next, I decide to begin cleaning out the drawers to my nightstand.   There is a large stack of greeting cards, some are from birthdays and anniversaries.  Other ones are sympathy cards from friends.  As I have said before I get emotionally attached to stuff so this one is a little tough.  I sit and open each card to read them again and the memories come flooding in, some happy, some sad. I do put some into the purge pile.  However, I choose to keep a stack which I will put into a box to store for the time being.  

Now that the cards are put away what else is in this drawer? This is how my mind works as I begin the sorting process. I see a long wooden back scratcher that says it’s from the local sewer company.  Hmmmm… it must have been free as I don’t think I would spend money on a back scratcher.  Of course, I do have this distant memory of cute metal back scratchers that looked like little bear claws. I think they might have ended up in Christmas stockings one year so maybe I would.  The question is …do I need a back scratcher?  I can probably live without one.  Into the bag it goes.

I pull these ribbon bookmarks out of the drawer.  A lady from our church made them to bring to a women’s retreat a few years ago.  There was a big box of them so I chose to take a dozen or more with the idea of giving them to the girls I work with at school.  Somehow that never happened.  Should I keep them?  I already have several of them placed in different books around the house.  I know!  I will give them to the ladies at my book club!  Ok, good.  But…what if there are more than 4 ladies at book club?  That wouldn’t work, so, into the bag they go.  Whew!  At this rate it’s going to take a week to get through just one drawer!  I keep going.  Three pairs of sunglasses quickly end up in the bag. Wait! No, maybe I had better ask if they belong to someone first.. I take them back out of the bag.

A metal washer I sponge painted and hung on a string as a craft idea for the children’s program at church last year.  The kids wrote their names on them and wore them as name tags. Cute, but I really don’t need to save that.

I am making progress and then…Uh Oh!  Notebooks!  Notebooks are going to be a killer.  I never know what I am going to find in a notebook.  I open the first one.  It’s the beginnings of a journal started in September 2011.  The first entry talks about my need to sort through my stuff and begin to simplify my life.  I notice there are only 5 days of journal entries before it stops.  Oh dear!  It looks like not very much has changed since then. However, it does go to show how long this has been bothering me. 

 Another notebook contains some recipes I thought I would try one day, lists of things to do, a note to call my middle brother who has since passed away, disorganized glimpses into my life.  What do I do with these things?  Do I keep them or let them go?  Do they keep me from moving forward or are they anchors to who I am?  For now I close them and place them back into the drawer.  Eventually, one drawer is empty and the other is about half full.  I am not ready to let go of any more than that right now and it's OK. I am at peace with what I have done so far.  Tomorrow is another day.

Misadventures of a Pack Rat - Day 1

Thankfully, I am not a hoarder.  However, I do have to admit to being a bit of a saver, an accumulator, a collector.  In other words, I am a pack rat.  I also happen to be married to a major pack rat and between us we have raised three more pack rats of our own.  The evidence is all around me, books spilling off of shelves, cupboards filled to overflowing, drawers that barely open because they are filled with papers and photos that need to be sorted.   Everywhere I look I find clutter. Not only the house but the attic, the basement and the garage are full of the accumulations of 30 years of living in the same place.  For the past couple of years, more and more I have come to the realization that some things really need to change. 

Most of the time we only want to share the beautiful spaces we have and I do keep my main living areas clean and clutter free.  However, there is also a lot of chaos in the background that I try to ignore and pretend isn't there. 

office

 

kitchen

garage

I think there is more than one kind of pack rat.  My husband is of the “waste not, want not” variety.  He saves things because he “might be able to use it someday”, triumphantly waving the two boards he has pulled from the pile of wood we have been walking around in the garage for the last 25 years.  My oldest son, on the other hand is a collector.  He is sure that his Dino-riders are going to be worth something someday.  Who knows?  Maybe he’s right.  I sure wish I had kept some of my old lunch boxes from when I was a kid.  Me?  I am more of an emotional collector.  I read the same books over and over because of the way they make me feel.  I also save books I think I should read but probably never will.  I keep things, I don’t even really like because they were given to me as a gift.  I save things because they remind me of people I cared about. I save things because maybe someday I will lose weight, go back to scrapbooking or knitting or quilting, the list of reasons is endless.  

Hall closet where I keep my photos & scrapbook supplies

Recently, I have been reading a book given to me by a sweet blogging friend called “The More Of Less” by Joshua Becker.  I very much doubt that I will ever become a minimalist.  I 'm not sure I even want to, but I definitely need to begin purging some stuff off the shelves, out of my closets and out of my life. I am tired of the extra stress it adds to my life.  I want to be be able to find what I want when I want it.  I want less to take care of and more time to just enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I want more time to read, more time in God's word, more time for prayer.

That is what these pages are going to be about.  I have tried to purge before and I am hoping that writing things down will help me to remain focused on the task. This will be my journal of the journey to a less cluttered life.  If you would like to come along with me you are welcome.  Here I go.