As I was downsizing some kitchen cupboards yesterday, it dawned on me that so many of those "get organized, reduce clutter, get your s**t together" books might have it all wrong. The majority of them say to go through things item by item and make a decision... I like the
Treasure (special, I Need this item),
Transfer (donate or sell), or
Trash (dump it) method, but maybe I need to rethink this. I'm beginning to envision a personalized version of a yard sale. An example is called for here. Visualize opening a cabinet or closet. Now you "Keep the Best and Get Rid of the Rest". Go shopping in your own closet. What would you buy if you were at a yard sale or store? What would you value? Pull that out, and toss
everything else. One book I was reading came close to this by saying that you take everything out of a given space, and only put back what you absolutely love and know that you have a definite use for. Maybe a combination of these ideas would work. All I know for sure is that this house is full of stuff that is not going to fit into a 5th wheel trailer no matter how it's stacked. I'm not willing to pay a fortune for storage for anything extra that doesn't hold a lot of personal value. So many of the things that are taking up space in our home now have very little purpose in the best life that we want to live now. Carry overs and memories, hand-me-downs and things we just had to have then don't pertain to our current lifestyle or the one that we are creating at this time of our lives. So, in essence, the focus needs to be on our Treasures (the things we truly value in our lives), not on the Trash (clutter, the stuff that keeps us from living our best lives now).
What I'm Reading:
- Dante's "Inferno" - World Literature class.
- Reimagined: How amazing people design lives they love (and what they can teach you!) by Ian Breck (Awesome read! helping to see what the best parts of my life are, and how to build on that. Probably influenced my thought processes for today's blog entry in relation to my "stuff".)
Just Finished Reading:
- Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif (Wonderful coming of age story set in Vancouver Island, BC. Deals with bullying, death, abuse, relationships, life and love... wow! Highly recommend this one.)
Quote of the Day:
"Embrace your past and it's lessons, and allow it to propel and motivate your journey to a more wonderful life." Ian Breck
