It's All Too Much

I just finished this book last night. I read it cover to cover and will begin it again today. It's a quick read by the guy from TLC's Clean Sweep.

The book isn't so much about organization as about relationships -- your relationship to your possessions and your relationship with the people who have to share your space. This book did not give very many suggestions for labeling or filing. Instead it has asked me to rethink my commitments.

First some background about my messy habits:

• We lived in the same house in Lawrence for 9 years--this is the longest I've ever lived in one place. It was a normal ranch house with 2+ bedrooms, a huge back yard and a garage.
• When we moved to Canada in 2002, we packed, but had professional movers take all the stuff through customs. Our house in Canada was 3000 square feet--twice the size of our Lawrence house. We got rid of a lot of stuff before the move, but then spent a year buying books, art supplies and furniture.
• We moved back to the States just one year later. I had spent much of the year in a deep depression and a lot of our possessions had never even been unpacked.
• We're now on our third rental house in 4 years. The current house has 950 square feet of living space and a 300 sq. foot basement with washer/dryer. We're trying to put four family members and an art career in this space.
• My house is full of boxes. And I keep inheriting more than I need or have space for.
• I don't like to invite people to my house. It's very tiny and there's no place to sit.
• The Star and The Artist don't like to throw away anything they have created. One of my problems is that I collect raw materials (mostly fabric, yarn and old clothes) for what I might create at some point in the future.

I'm so cluttered in my home that I don't like to be there. There is no sanctuary. Everywhere I look I only see mess --and work that needs to be done. I think this is contributing to my depression and I'm ready to do something about it.

So here's what I've been thinking about:

1. You only have the space you have.
2. Possessions are not the same as memories.
3. Overwhelming clutter takes its toll on your finances, your time and your emotions.
4. Everyone in the family must committ to the same ideals for the use of the limited space.
5. Today is the best day to make a change.

I've actually already made some decisions about things I don't need. This summer I put those things in boxes and stored them in my bedroom. I planned to get rid of them: Craigslist or Ebay--something that would net a little money. It's now January. This weekend I took four boxes of stuff (including ice skates both kids got for Christmas in Canada) to Goodwill. I won't miss any of the stuff, but I do have some guilt over the percieved value of it all. This was four boxes of things that I had purchased with my limited income. Now a waste.

So I think that one lesson is that I have to limit what I bring into my space. We no longer buy books like we're starting our own library, but I do still have a tendancy to want cute things. Well I'm finally at a place where I really have to make a distinction between "want" and "need."