Surrounded by Stuff

I'm sitting here, surrounded by stuff.  Stuff I don't like, don't need, and don't want, mixed up with stuff I do like, need or want.  I have to go through and decide.

Last week I finally got a copy of The Live-changing Magic of Tidying up:  The Japanese Art of De-cluttering and Organizing from the library.

I say finally because it took months to get it.  I was 97th on the waiting list, even though they have 14 copies!


I have quickly realized that all the "stuff" I always complain about, all the clutter that bothers me that I blame on everyone else....a lot of it is mine!

And a lot of it is stuff that was given to me, stuff that sits in cupboards, or clutters up my table and counters without being useful.  Stuff I felt obligated to, because it was a gift, or because I liked it long ago.

Truthfully, my children have had a hard time with it.  I'm only going through my own belongings, but it is still hard for them to see familiar things leave.  Like the baby gate.  Rose was in tears over the baby gate.  It didn't matter that I don't have any more babies, or that it never worked very well in the first place.  She couldn't stand to see it leaving us.  She and Mirin kidnapped it out of the "Donate" pile and hid it somewhere.  I haven't found it yet.

When they got home on Saturday from a day at BB Brown gardens with my dad, they charged inside like elephants.  "What are you getting rid of now?" they demanded.

"Hey, where's all the clutter on top of the fridge?  I liked the clutter on top of the fridge!"

They pushed past me organizing books and banged into their room where there isn't an inch of visible floor space.  "Ahhhh!  This is so much better!" Mirin said.

So if I don't write here much this week - know that I am just overwhelmed with the task of culling belongings.