Archive for the Personal
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Digging out of Chaos — LIES!
[updated: one missing lie added]
There’s been lots of time to think, digging out of the chaos of the walk-in junk drawer that’s supposed to be my study. (It was worse than the pictures show. They were taken AFTER I started working.)
As I dig out, I find myself uncovering decades of lying to myself.
Here’s the list, so far. Originally I was tweeting them one by one. Responses confirm I’m not the only one who tells herself these lies:
Digging out of chaos–LIE # 1. I paid good money for that. I can’t give/throw it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE #2. I got that from my (fill in the blank). I can’t give/throw it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE # 3. That thing still works. I can’t give/throw it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE #4. It’s so ugly I can’t stand looking at it, but it’s still usable. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE #5. I haven’t used it in 3 years, but I’m sure I’ll need it sometime. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #6. I missed the deadline for product return. But someday I’ll list it on Ebay. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #7. It doesn’t fit, but I’ll surely be be small/large enough next year. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #8. It doesn’t match anything else I wear, but I like the color so much. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #9. My children will value this some day. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #10. It’s still in the original box! This is going to be worth a lot someday. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #11. I’ll find someone who still has the [office machine] that uses that part. I can’t throw/give it away now.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #12. It’s a souvenir from that wonderful trip to [fill in the place]. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #13. I’ll move this to the [attic. garage. basement] till my children need it. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #14. The perfect organizing system will store everything. I won’t have to throw/give anything away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #15. I’m the only one who knows what to do with each item of my chaos. No way can anybody help me.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #16. I’m so ashamed of this mess. No way can I let anybody help me.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #17. So many self-help books. Surely there’s a way to fix my life without shoveling out from under the mess.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 18. Planning the job & wearing work clothes all day is almost as good as actually clearing away the mess.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 19. My living room & dining room are neat, so things aren’t really out of control.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 20. I’ll just sort all this stuff into stacks and then it will be neat.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 21. Nobody else sees my bedroom, so it doesn’t matter what it looks like.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 22. I’m the only one who lives in the midst of mess like this. No way can I let anybody into my house & life.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 23. I’ll never be able to dig out, so I’ll just have to get used to living like this.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 24. It’s just normal that stuff, stuff, stuff. is burying what I’m stuffing inside–and burying me.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 25. There’s nothing I can do about this mess that’s burying me. I’ll never be able to follow my dreams.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 26. The wind has changed. The sky is lowering. Maybe Mary Poppins will drift in, snap her fingers & I’ll be dug out.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 27. Keep tweeting wisdom about digging out, and I won’t actually have to DO it. NOEL! Back to work!
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Breaking up is hard to do
Okay. I’ve let you in on my dirty (literally) little secret.
My niece, Sunny, is a wise young wife and mother who empathizes with me. She deals with the same temptations I do.
So she sent me some good advice. It’s extra good because it’s so funny.
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Make up your mind, Self!
Conflicted? Yes. I bought these books at the same time.
One would have told me about “the hidden benefits of disorder, how crammed closets, cluttered offices, and on-the-fly planning make the world a better place.” I really wanted that to be true. Unfortunately, I never read the book–I couldn’t find it because I couldn’t remember whether it was in my crammed closet or cluttered office.
I bought them together and lost them together, but in the meantime I bought and am reading another copy of the one that tells me “It’s all too much” and that I need “an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff.”
(Right there you have one of the reasons my husband’s been giving me for years that clutter is not good: you lose things and waste money.)
Well, turns out these books were in the cluttered office, supposedly my work room. I’ve taken to calling it the walk-in junk drawer. But that’s not going to last for long.
I unearthed the books in the midst of totally emptying the room so I can create a room I can love to be in. I’ll put back into the room only the things that belong there and that I want there.
Now I’ve told the world. So I better follow through. I’ll let you know.
