are you the keeper of stuff? yours, your kids', family members who just can't get rid of it all themselves? i am. i have so many chairs. i think my grandparents must have really loved chairs. i also have lamps, dishes, books, records, toys...most of it wonderful but some of it stuff i wouldn't have chosen but am now the owner of. i really don't live in a small house but keith and i find ourselves saying "our house is too small!". really it's just too small for all our piles.
i mean, look at this breakfast nook!
sophia's room has become unmanageable. keith and i don't like going into it and it just makes me feel rotten that our children are over-indulged. but when i really look around, a lot of it is my old barbie things, books, and furniture that i have always felt i couldn't possibly get rid of. oh the memories!
but things are going to change. yesterday at the library i found a great book titled, it's all too much: an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff. it really is fabulous and filled with questions and anti-excuses that has already made me say "aha!" a number of times. the author starts with the nine most common excuses for not tackling clutter:
"i might need it one day."
"it's too important to let go."
"i can't get rid of it-it's worth a lot of money."
"my house is too small."
"i don't have the time."
"i don't know how it got like this."
"it's not a problem- my husband/wife/partner/child just thinks it is."
"it isn't mine."
"it's too overwhelming."
mmhmm. i've used most of these excuses but then i have to think, "how special can it be if it's stuffed in a box in my nasty old basement?", etc.
we started work on our basement this past weekend and soon, when it doesn't feel quite so overwhelming, i'll take on our poor little breakfast nook. but we are making progress. whew.
hopefully slow and steady will win this race.
amy
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