To TEACHER with love, cont. By (me!) Sandra, tvgp
And so, where was I? ..teacher.. If you met her in a local coffee shop, you would have had no idea the condition her house was in.. And I repeat, how I hate the term hoarder.. It makes me think of a thief, a greedy thief, taking things that dont belong to him in large quantities; and this condition is so to the contrary. It is just born from keeping things.. Everything.. That does belong to you.. That means very much to you.. That means something to you.. That holds some memory value... The condition is born from not being able to part with things; from an inability to un-keep. And as I mentioned, if you can't give or toss or donate things for psychological/emotional/spiritual reasons and you live a long time.. That accidentally amounts to a lot of.. -stuff. And that "stuff" will start to collect other "stuff" like mildew, spiders, cockroaches.. And if it was too hard to give/toss or donate when these tangible memories (aka: stuff)were in good condition.. Then of course! it becomes harder still.. Too hard; impossible. Why would anyone hold on to tangible memories and never let them go? Why is it important? If you know, in your mind-memory, why is it still important to have a physical picture, the actual post card, the actual newspaper clipping, the original love letter, the book you've already read and might not read again, -why does anyone keep anything at all? for any length of time? If they know they will not use, wear, read, or otherwise engage with the object of affection in the same way again.. We all do it. -so by now, you can guess, I'm in the process of de-cluttering.. Again! I've been forced to.. Over the years.. Moving from a tri-level into just a room... And then.. Well, my sister has been kind enough to let me store my "stuff" in her garage, but I've been spiritually nudged that it is time for me to de-clutter my life and as a result, will be de-stressing hers some.. It is another thing hard to quantify, but, every time you open your garage and see it packed with stuff.. It carries a certain weight.. And I know as she opens her garage, and gets to enjoy -open space, this yields a certain peace and happiness... Also, I am of the feeling and belief God is preparing me for some next adventure, and I need to travel light. Here is the goal: a clean, organized room with only a few boxes in the closet + what my treasure trunk will hold, while still closing all the way, and items I actually, really wear or use within a given month. Now, when I was in a hurry during other moves and relocations, I know! I tossed unimportant items in the same bags and boxes as super-duper important items. -what this means, is that I cannot EVER just toss an entire bag or box that has trash on top.. Because below, for example, those 6 stacks of tax records and court papers and unopened junk mail from 2006... Guess what!?! All 5 original midnight bulletins! (one, in goldenrod..) which MUST be kept! I will be keeping autographed books, but not the others, so have to check them first... Then of course, I have to stop and enjoy every pile of pictures... Smile, laugh, say thank you prayers. I'll keep some... But no duplicates, or close-to's. Of course, I have to stop and try on clothes... Figure out which ones to keep, vs. Donate, vs. Burn... It is a very emotional, memory-triggered packed, intense, psychologically draining, huge CHALLENGE. Sometimes I'll hold an item over the "going to the dumps" box and literally stop.. "oh! This is hard God! This is so hard!! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" -but I'm eventually able to put it in the trash and drive it to the dumps and throw it out... "thank you Jesus!" I say on the drive home. I know, ultimately, I'm being liberated.. Traveling lighter.. That stuff I throw away for good is stuff I'll never have to carry, relocate, find room for, again. Permanently out of my life.
posted by SHE @ 10:18 AM
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