Uncluttering Your Life

It's kind of a chicken and the egg situation...is my life chaotic because my house is cluttered, or is my house cluttered because my life is chaotic?

Regardless of which you believe, the truth of the matter is that establishing control over one will automatically make you feel better about the other...this has been proven time and again.

Since I have been focussing exclusively on purging and organizing your home so far, I thought today I would give equal billing to the other half of the equation. Here is a poem which has been a lifesaver to me. During times of extreme stress and chaos in my life, I have even posted this in my bathroom so that it is the first thing I see in the morning, and the last thing I see at night.

Although it is a prayer, you need not be religious to benefit from this. The first stanza is my personal "Mission Statement", and I repeat it to myself on those days when it all seems too much...enjoy, and pass it on.

Backsliding

So I have spent most of the last 3 weeks helping a friend purge and paint her 130 year old semi-detached Victorian house in preparation for sale.

She has lived in the house for the past 43 years, so needless to say the task was monumental.

I am so impressed with how she has taken it on, determined to move on to a simpler, more serene life in a much smaller apartment.

Although we are not yet finished, we decided to take a much needed week off. At least from her house...when I looked around my small, one bedroom plus den apartment I realized how much I had neglected my own space.

So on the weekend I began the cleaning...

I moved into this apartment in May, and still have not found storage solutions for everything that I brought with me. It has been six years since I first made the decision to downsize and simplify, and I thought I was doing very well. Until I made the decision to convert my linen closet into clothes storage. As I unloaded the linens, I was horrified to discover 5 sets of sheets, 5 sets of towels, and 4 bath mats. Who needs 5 sets of sheets for one bed? And whatever happened to my "one in, one out" rule?

Yes it is very clear to me that backsliding happens...it is insidious and unexpected. Staying clutter free requires diligence and discipline.

So off to Goodwill I go with 2 sets of sheets, 2 sets of towels and 2 bathmats, renewing my vows once again to purge, purge, purge!

Don't be discouraged....even the most devout declutterers slip up occasionally! It's like cheating on your diet...forgive yourself and move on.