My husband and I have moved way too many times in our short marriage. Every time we do, there is always those few boxes that get moved from place to place. We never seem to find the time to go through them and unpack the contents. They continue to get moved, stashed, and ignored.
Likewise, there always seems to be those piles of stuff that stack up around the corners, under beds,and behind closet doors of our home. I hate this more than I can describe. Who has time to really deep clean when you are just trying to keep up with the usual chores.
Now all those obnoxious piles of stuff are becoming more of a hassle as my children keep finding, and getting into them. So now I often have to guard and clean up odds and ends I hate even having.
This begs the question; Why do I have them?
Throughout the day, I like to take a minute to rest and just relax. When I do stop moving long enough to look around the room, all I see are all the hours of unseen work to de-junk and organize piles of stuff. My body might be getting a break, but my mind is now more stressed than when I sat down. I hate thinking about all the stuff in my house.
I sigh, cringe, walk away, come back, consider, then put it on my mental 'to do list'. How can we find peace in our home if we are always carrying this mental list with us, beating ourselves up.
Do I need this stuff? Can I buy it again if I ever do? If I boxed it up and left it, would I remember it existed? That's a proven NO. Only when I open the box and see the contents does it become priceless again. Can I give it away? Do I really want to box it up again and move it?
After years of never truly having a place in my home where my mind and body can relax, I decided to make time. With eating better, I have found more energy, and that has helped me to do house work, especially the organizing and de-junking work.
I started with the place I like to relax most, my room. I sat down and began letting the piles of junk speak to me. I made a physical list and began to work. Where were my children while I was doing this? Making more of a mess for me in other places. I did not care though! I can clean that any day. This is important to my personal well being.
With a whole weekend devoted to my room, it was truly clean. I could sense the peace settling.
I got rid of;
a bag of clothing from my closet
a box of book of my shelf
a bag of trash
a box of odds
a basket of clothing that do not fit my kids any more
I reorganized my closet, clothing, my kids clothing, linens, books, everything I could feel screaming for my attention.
Now my room is very peaceful. Yes I hear the laundry whispering for me to wash it. Sometimes I hear the tub squeaking for me to scrub it. All manageable.
Now I am motivated to continue through my home.
I have since cleaned out two more closets and de-junked my preschool things.
Next on my list is the kitchen with its many deep hiding places and the children's toys.
If you get rid of it you will never have to clean it up again!
So where is your piece of heaven going to be?
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