Tuesday, January 08, 2008

De-cluttering


One of the things I have been reading about a lot in relation to making resolutions is the importance of de-cluttering. Most post will say if you want to be happy or successful for productive you need to de-clutter your space.

I have always had a cluttered office, but I could usually find what I was looking for.

My house has always been cluttered, but it really has gotten worse with the three kids, and less time spent on tidying up.

My car has become a mess, my kids keep telling me I need to clean it out, and they are right. Its like a second office.

My kids have been seeing this commerical on tv for a purse that you can organize everything in, and they keep telling me I need to buy it. They are probably right, my purse is even a mess.

My sister on the other hand is neat and tidy. When we shared a room growing up, she put the dressers up between us so she didn't have to see my messy side. Her house is still neat and tidy except for her teenage daughter's room. It looks like the way my side used to look during my teen years.

I have begun to declutter my desk and file things from 07 to make room for 08 files. But I need to go through my books and get rid of old ones that I don't need anymore. And I need to clean out the files of papers I don't need anymore. I would say this is going to take me some time to do this.

And I need to declutter my house of books, old clothes, toys, things, you name it, papers. It is amazing how much mail we get that is just plain useless. Ya got to file 13 it right then and there, cause if you don't it grows on you. I figure it will take a year or more to go through and declutter everything. But I am guess it is also a lifelong work. I figure that this isn't just about living simply, or having a Martha Stewart house, this is also a spiritual matter. And maybe I wrote this before, that Decluttering the "thing" does have to do with becoming less consumeristic and less being owned by the things. I think also there is a decluttering that goes on inside of me as well as I declutter the things around me. Perhaps as I declutter it will creat more space for the Holy in my life. Perhaps it will show me the treasure that God created called me. Who knows where this will lead.

I will say for those who wondered, I have started a journal of how I spend my time. I'll let you know what I Learn.

3 comments:

Barbara B. said...

I hear ya! De-cluttering is an ongoing issue for me!

Anonymous said...

as another cluttered person i totally feel you!

i notice that when i declutter, i also feel better. i am able to walk out of my house and go "live" rather than feeling as though i should be at home picking up.

i don't know if you're interested at all in feng shui (i love it--very fun) but you might enjoy it and/or find it helpful. there is a tiny little book called something like decluttering with feng shui and it talks about our emotions and how they are related to the clutter. it also talks about freeing up space within us.

i'm not hard core feng shui, but i do think there is some truth in it.

good luck with the decluttering.

Theresa Coleman said...

Me too.
I'm still pondering the Theology of Space.