I am aching a bit for change. Maybe it's the Gemini Full Moon arriving tomorrow, or Winter Solstice in a week, or the pretty new 2017 planner and goal setting workbook that's waiting to be filled in that's prompting me to think long and hard about the state of my life, my home, my relationships.
As I approach my fifty-first birthday, I don't feel like I'm at the top of the hill, about to roll down; I'm only halfway up the mountain I've been climbing for the last fifty years. When I reach the top, I want to be free of anything weighing me down. I want to fly off that peak.
It's got to begin with the physical clutter. I've always been a start-at-the-bottom kind of person when it comes to housekeeping. Clean the floor when it gets sticky, clean the desk when I don't have room to navigate the computer mouse, clean the table when I don't have a place for my plate. It's been my unending, unmet goal each year to purge and clean and simplify. But now I'm looking at the mess from the perspective of legacy--and this is not what I want to leave my children.
Bad habits must be replaced to be eradicated, so I'm making a list of ways to limit physical clutter. Purchases of things will be replaced with purchasing experiences. I'm cutting subscriptions to emails touting the next big sale. Catalogs are being tossed in the recycle bin the same day they arrive in the mail. Book purchases will be put on hold (gasp) while I tackle the mountain of unread books on the coffee table.
By this time next year, I'll be able to see the top of my desk again, the top of the coffee table, navigate the living room and bedroom without stubbing a toe. I'll feel more connected with people, not things. I'll make space for what's really important.
I love your resolve in this post. Sometimes we have to write it out to realize the importance, but you also have to turn off the computer and get it done. For me, I'd rather read some more slices than tackle the d-junk drawer. My daughter has been shaming me into it by texting pictures of her future mother-in-law's junk drawer that looks like OCD organization. Along with your de-cluttering, enjoy the season. Happy Holidays.
ReplyDeleteI love your resolve in this post. Sometimes we have to write it out to realize the importance, but you also have to turn off the computer and get it done. For me, I'd rather read some more slices than tackle the d-junk drawer. My daughter has been shaming me into it by texting pictures of her future mother-in-law's junk drawer that looks like OCD organization. Along with your de-cluttering, enjoy the season. Happy Holidays.
ReplyDeleteGood for you- often the goals shared are the goals kept. I moved two and a half years ago and shed almost everything- hard, but necessary.
ReplyDeleteCan so identify with you! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely on my 2017 MUST-do list. May The Force Be With Us BOTH. Grateful hugs for the inspiration.
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