Hoarding

It brings joy to see the clutter leave your home.
 It brings a sense of accomplishment and peace.

Oh dear!  If only you could see my dining room table, you would see I did again;  and, I cannot blame anyone but myself.  I started the mess;  and, then I started walking by it.  (A long drawn out Ohhhhhhh, and she shudders.)  Enough of the dramatics.

This week, the dining room is my zone to work for 15 minutes a day. Here are some of the things that are leaving my house from the dining table and my closet.  When I finish, I will show you the before and the after pictures on Facebook. 

57 Items decluttered in 2014

It's not pretty, is it? 

I am not a hoarder, but I am sure this is how it begins.  Layer upon layer of items that may have been useful or meaningful at one time gather on the table.  They fall on the floor or get put in boxes and bags, until there is no room.  It is dangerous and unhealthy when people get to the point they cannot clean the floor or the table.  Clutter, dirt, and grime cover the house flowing from room to room.   You cannot find anything, because there is no room left;  so, you go out and buy more. 

Have you ever watched the shows about hoarding?  If you are easily stressed, do not do it.  But, do start de-cluttering one, two, or three items at a time.  It feels good to be rid of the clutter.  If you need help, get a therapist that can help you to work through getting rid of things.  And, even though you may feel uncomfortable about asking good friends or family to help, let them.  I know it is hard, but it is not shameful to let someone help you, especially when you are dealing with chronic illness and fatigue.  God bless you.  

Ancient Leg Brace from mid-1990's

Ribbon I cut off several layers of tulle,
which I am using to make doll clothes.

Old Clothes 

Prayer

Father-God, I pray that you will bless and help the readers of this blog.  Help them find a way to change their lives by getting rid of the clutter that only makes life more difficult.  You know their needs.  I pray they will open their hearts and lives to letting You help them and letting other people help them.  Lord, I pray you will send the right people for those that need it -- people that will help and bless their lives.  I do not know all their needs, but You do.  I trust you, and I pray that Your will be done.  In Christ's name I pray, Amen. 

The Perfectionist Corner

1+2+2+1+47   =           53
(this post)   (last post)   (total)

If I decided I had to get rid of the clutter P E R F E C T L Y, I would be throwing myself right back into the Perfectionist Corner.  With a perfectionistic attitude, I would feel defeated.  Therefore, I am celebrating that I am still doing the job.  Also, I wiped out a drawer in the kitchen that I have been avoiding.  That makes me a happy camper!

Let It Go

                                                                                 

One of the things that strikes me about most of the clutter I have gotten rid of is that I am almost embarrassed to take pictures of it.  Why on earth am I cluttering the internet with pictures of unlovely clutter?

It is simple.  I want you to see how the clutter adds up.  It is also a reminder to me that I can do more to make housekeeping simpler, such as not keeping magazines piled up in several places in the house.




This time I managed to empty a basket and make the pile on the bottom shelf of my side table
considerably smaller.  It also made me realize I should find a new place to keep photograph albums.
I confess to being a book-magazine-paper piling girl.
I get reading material out and there it sits, because I haven't finished reading excerpts, etc.  Oh, I have many excuses.  Can you relate to putting it off until later?  This weekend I feel a bit more free.  I took care of some things I had been putting off - not just clutter.



Last year in 2013, I had a goal to declutter 365 items and ended up getting rid of 377+ things.  This year started out  a little slow, because of illness.  However, I have been keeping track of the numbers, I can see how what I have done adds up.  This spurs me on, because I can see what seemed almost impossible several years ago is possible.  

This week I decluttered 14 articles of reading material, so my pile is smaller.  All together in 2014 it adds up to 47 items.  Add that to last year, that is over 400 things out of my house.  In 2011 - 2012, I can only guess at how much I was able to get cleaned out of our lives forever, except for the donated items.  What I had not gone through before we moved, I went through afterwards;  moreover, the boxes stayed in the house until I did it.  If they had gone in the basement, they would have sat there.  Having the boxes in the house helped my husband see we had no need to keep many things he had saved for years.  We also had his office boxes, which he did not want in his new office.  Books, papers, and journals are wonderful, but after a while there are many things that are never going to be looked at again.    Be brave if you have things that are just clutter, not archival materials.  Free up your life and space by letting it go.