Let the Purging Begin

   

        Though it would make sense to no one but me, I know precisely what lies beneath each clump of stacked paperwork. I know vaguely the last vicinity I was working on something...I can tell you generically what those 3 stacks of papers represent. And to go touching those stacks, much less, FILING those stacks away, (God forbid)...The second it's out of sight (even if beneath a bunch of other stuff) well that will be the precise piece of paper I need, which now, I haven't a clue what category I (in my left brained moment) thought to slap on it the day I got in filing mode. And so too often, the stacks remain, until I can't stand looking at them anymore or Minsky can't see to get around them.  At this point, it's time to clear the decks...clean the house, (or at least: clean the desk. This usually occurs about the time I need to complete a deadline, when needing an excuse to procrastinate is easily justified.)
     So goes the mind of a creative...attempting (pretending) to organize.
     In truth, it's not that we don't like orderly. It's just that to us...the moral order of the universe is more akin to chaos theory than anything relative...
     But today, I took a huge leap: while facing the enemy of stacks everywhere, I decided to do it one better and actually destroy a few outdated paper items once and for all.
     Toting the remains of the ghost of taxes past, I opened my archiving file cabinet to discover a drawer so stuffed, I was going to have to purchase a new 4-drawer file to keep this outmoded system in play. But a new file cabinet is unnecessary (said the voice in my head, having recently adapted to cleaning bowls to the sound of an audiobook on purging and shedding, which clearly must've seeped into my subconscious after all).
     Facing the overstuffed file cabinet containing everything from 1990s tax information to every Div school paper, notebook and test I'd ever completed, I looked at the more recent files I had hoisted down the basement stairs (of 2011, 2012 and now 2013 tax receipts and documents) and said, "This is it. No more cramming. Time to purge."
     With that (and working hard not to think about it too much or --God Forbid-- OPEN one of those past files to find myself reading, then reminiscing, then saving after all, that mid-term paper I had aced)...I pulled out reams of my past, from files I could reuse, and loaded up a box to remove these clutter bugs once and for all.
     To make sure I didn't turn back, I headed to the old farm trash bin (most every farm has one...matter of fact, this is how everyone used to do it in the olden day before trash services came and took over). Anything burnable (wood, paper, pieces of cardboard) are fair game. If it were cooler, I'd have invited friends over for a ceremony.
     But today, that little ceremony is mine and mine alone. It's a far cry from all the remaining files I've yet to go (much less the other items in my closets, in my basement, in my storage shed) likewise in need of a big ol' purge.
     But it's a start. And with that start, the tiniest boost of momentum to keep purging in that direction. I can't speak for everyone, but I, for one, have a cause and effect balance that's way out of kilter. Here of late, I've been taking too much in, too much on, and haven't allowed near enough time for putting too much out or taking too much off my "to do" list. (So my spring cleaning is a half a year late. Oh well...Better late than never!)

Simplifying 101

     So I'm reading a book on clearing the clutter (cause as easy as it sounds, psychologically, I'm learning there are reasons for why we resist letting go of things) ... The book is called "Shed"and no, it has nothing to do with stand alone storage units. Nor is it what my dogs are doing in spades this time of year. Instead, "Shed" is a book about removing layer after layer of the clutter that we silently...even emotionally....wrap our lives in. But this clutter (I'm learning) is slowing us down, if not tripping us up in life.
     This "stuff" we've accumulated (most often mindlessly...more times than not we're oblivious) --this stuff comes in the form of unopened mail, backed up purchases and stuff we haul from car to counter just before collapsing ourselves once back inside our cocoons.
    As mentioned in previous blogs,when I get too concerned for the clutter, I like to flip on that Hoarder show, just to prove it could be worse. Not quite that bad, but I have to admit, I understand the hoarder's mindset when they get  just a lit-tle too sentimental about trashing a memory. I'm bad about that myself. I tend to cheer for the underdog in these moments.
     The trick (as I'm reading) is to retrain the brain, after all,  it's not like we need all this stuff, but at the same time, hey, my niece might...Or someone might...Heck, even "I" might, after all, my grand folks lived through one pretty nasty depression. There is something primal about our drive to surround ourselves in material items.
     Well tonight it hit me. Chapter 12. Name Your Chapter
     To help me and other clutter bug hopefuls everywhere, this author suggests we stop and ask: 1) where do I want to go next in life; and 2) name that chapter. (I'm good at this. I'm with you author. Keep going.) In so doing, we are asked to have pen in hand (All about this one too. Yep. I'm there. And...?) And we are to write down in one word, the theme for the next chapter in our lives. . .
     (Play Jeopardy Music Here.)
      Now I'm not sure about you, but as a Type A, ADD personality I'm big on goal setting and listing future plans. But even so, for me, labeling a life chapter could take all sorts of forms and timeframes. I decided to clump past themes by age brackets; first there were my high school years; then my college theme (i.e. graduate); I had a first job; then career change; first real job (or at least the one I fell in love with, i.e. broadcasting). Then came writing.
     There's not enough space to checker jump you from writing to here, but suffice it to say, cookbooks led to livelihood, led to coming home, led to gardening (and is now leading to...well, that's as far as I got on the "Shed" CD- Chapter 12).  Pretty sure writing is here to stay, and I want to think the critters are too. But regardless, it wasn't hard for me to come up with the theme I really wanted to focus on next and that is: SIMPLIFYING my Life!
     Easier said that done, and Lord knows I'm far from there yet, but if looking ahead helps me focus in steering this ship of a life in my next best direction, then I pick "Simplifying" to captain my boat. (My co-captain, I named "Minimalizing") ~
     Bottom line: I have too much stuff. I mean...How can one little girl, never married, no kids, accumulate so much stuff? Well...it ain't hard. Matter of fact, when I speak with friends --some of them married, some of them in my kinda boat (more like a dingy)...this seems to be the theme on a lot of folks' minds. Seems everywhere I turn I've got friends asking, "Where in the WORLD did all this stuff come from?"
     It wasn't hard to pick a chapter theme. I'm seriously dedicated to ridding my life of the excess. I think I need it to move forward. What's hard is knowing where to start...Knowing how to overhaul a lifetime of stuff I was drawn to buy and replace it with new habits that keep the place from backing up and energy pockets cleared for creating (heck, breathing)...Therein lies the challenge.
     A work in progress for sure, but as goes my life, so goes the blog. I have to say I'm not real proud of my basement right now, and furthermore, I'm a sucker for saving things that might someday be used elsewhere. (The curse of the creative mind--we never see it as trash...just something to be reinvented). But maybe for once, I'll put my own stuff out there and see what freedom feels like.
(I hear it's just another word for nothing left to lose~)