For those of you who have been following my blog (thank you, by the way - big hugs to you), it's no secret that I'm a fan of the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, the best birthday gift my mom has ever given me. Without having read that book, I might not even be keeping a blog semi-faithfully.
Each month, Rubin experiments with new ways to increase happiness. And some of them are ridiculously simplistic.
Decreasing clutter, for example. To some, living in chaos is no big deal. But to many (arm raised high in the air here!), it adds layer upon layer of stress until you're heaped with confusion and feelings of defeat.
After years of living in such chaos, your mind and body adjust - really, we just give up (humans are remarkably adaptable - I default to the episodes of Hoarders where humans live for years with no running water or electricity and somehow survive amidst the jaw-dropping piles of human waste and trash bags).
While Chris and I are not hoarders, neither of us are blessed with very orderly brains. We each deal with a very messy room in a different way:
Example A (Chris): calmly gathers the clutter into a box, bin, tote, bag or hamper and shuffles it to another room to be dealt with at a later time. Then relaxes in giant comfy leather recliner to unwind from the stressors of the day.
Example B (Kimm): stands in the middle of the room, arms at side, fingers twiddling madly, eyes scurrying here and there, licking lips, completely confused amidst the mess as to where or how to start; Kimm then storms around the house spouting out frustration at the mess while feeling utterly incapable of doing anything about it.
Now, I'm not saying either example is bad....they just don't work!
I had set February, my first full month as a stay-at-home-mom, as "De-Clutter De House Month". Little did I know I'd be down sick for a week with pneumonia and that Lucy would follow immediately for days with a viral stomach bug.
And why....oh why....did I pick the shortest month of the year to defeat this Goliath (or at least buy him and the Philistines some lunch to talk out our differences, ha ha)??
Even with the extra day, being Leap Year, it's the busiest month in our family's calendar year! We have birthdays coming out of our ears, Valentine's Day AND our wedding anniversary!
So, looking at one of the four calendars I keep updated on my iPhone today while I removed more clutter from the house (I'm selling unused clothes and other goodies on a local swap site), I realized I had to be insane. My living room is piled with stacks of stuff that I've either donated to charity or sold online that has yet to be delivered. Organized chaos for me because I know exactly which stack goes where and to whom. But it's still there until it's been picked up or delivered!
And that could literally take the rest of the month. And that is just the stuff that's lying around in boxes. I've scarcely gone thru the masses of books and toys the kids have outgrown or the random rick rack a house somehow seems to conceive the longer you live in it.
My embarrassing "before" pic of my home office....it looks quite lovely compared to now! Right now I'm just tossing whatever can't be dealt with (think back to Example A) to shut behind a closed door. But sadly, I really doubt there will be an "after" pic before the month ends. My project room/office/creative hideaway will probably still be a messy shell. Just hopefully not as much as it is now.
And here's the clincher...the part where a clinicallly A.D.D. mind could turn to hoarding....I have an antique miniature rolltop desk that I just bought for a steal that I cannot WAIT to get my hands on!!
And a velvet-lined wooden jewelry box.....
And there's still this sewing table....
And the antique magazine rack....
And my antique mailbox.....
I have plans for all of these things, big plans! But I can't get to them if I literally can't "get to them"!
So I must continue to forge the path to a funtional home. I'm not looking to be a picture straight from a 1950s issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I'm certainly not STUPID. But I'd like to be able to find things on a fairly regular basis, to walk thru rooms without staring at small "to-do" piles and, most importantly, to set a very good example of responsibility for our children.
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