Clutter

Almost 2 years ago I started on the quest to declutter and simplify our home.  I have no intention of going full minimalist, but I was bogged down in clutter, no organization and frustration.  I wrote about a lot of that here in this blog space.  I have not undone all of the progress I made, however I did kind of stall.  I expected to be pretty much done with this project long ago! Life tends to have twists and turns that take me down paths that I don't intend.

I had to take a break from my online work today because of sheer frustration.  I could feel my stress level going up so I switched gears.  I decided to tackle the ironing basket, or I should say 2 baskets! As I worked through those items of clothing I realized that the entire bottom of one was all summer clothes that I just didn't iron or put away at the end of the season.  As I looked at each piece I started a donate/discard pile.  Then I put clothes away in my overloaded closet and the frustration started to rise..... again!  I went back and looked at some of the tips from sites that I had bookmarked when I started the decluttering process. I proceeded to spend about an hour in my very small and overcrowded closet.  I now have a pile of 50 items of clothing that are not going back in.  Everything from dresses that I have not worn in many years, to slacks that don't fit, to items that I really don't like so I never wear.  Even removing that many items of clothing I still have way too many clothes.  I look at what is there and realize that the statistic is true for me: I wear only 20% of my clothes 80% of the time.  Slowly I will pare that down even more, and will only truly have clothes I love and wear regularly.  

I thought this was a fitting activity as we get ready to enter the season of Lent. I plan to write a series again this year, but I'm going to do something much different.  The first installment will be posted on Thursday morning.  I plan to attend worship tomorrow on Ash Wednesday and then do some deep reflecting on all areas of my life before starting the writing. I have the 'bones' in place, just need to flesh it out.  

I have had many shakeups over the last 6 weeks.  Some are still evolving and I don't quite know what final shape they will take.  Today as I did a purge on my closet I started to feel that hint of freedom that I'm seeking.  I have a vision of where I want to be, but it is still somewhat out of focus.  I need to do more shaking and rearranging!  Are you ready?