In order to commit to the process, I am putting it out there to the universe: THIS HOUSE, AND EVERYTHING IN IT, IS GOING ON A DIET :)
I am detecting a pattern here. My cupboards, closets, under the bed, my golden retriever, myself, all are stuffed to bursting. I need to lose twenty pounds (yesterday), Jasmine looks more like an ottoman than a dog, and my house, small as it is, with no storage, HAS TOO MUCH STUFF IN IT.
So this morning I turfed out my closet. I only have one and now it is under control. But all of the stuff I removed from it has to go somewhere. So the process begins, as I move Stuff ahead of me all through the house.
I need:
*totes and somewhere to put them (my sister's basement)
*a small shelf unit to go beside my desk to put all my website material on
(instead of the floor)
*to make a trip to the sally ann or the free store with my excess
*time and energy to keep going
Living in a small trailer, this is a process I go through often. It only takes a few too busy days of flinging stuff randomly into cupboards in a rush for them to look horrifying. I feel somewhat like a large dog, turning himself around and around in a slightly too small bed, as I try to fit myself into this space.
And yet. I long for sparseness and clean lines. But every object I pick up might have some future use. Or has an emotional attachment because someone dear gave it to me.
I feel badly at all of this baggage, when so many of the world's nomads have what they can carry in their two hands or on their backs. Life is not fair. How much does one person actually NEED? (At the end, it boils down to a comb and a toothbrush, on the small table beside you in the hospital.)
My friend Matthew, who talks a lot about The Myth of More that North America is afflicted with, has a quote: You'll never have enough, until you are enough.
I am Enough, and I have too much. I will have a hard time unloading some of it. (I might need it one day!) But. I am determined.
And, in this one tiny household on Planet Earth, Purging Is Occuring.
Stay tuned!
