After a couple of crazy months -- school, work, dating, traveling, colds, finals, holidays -- I've spent the last few days digging out.
I have five bags of stuff waiting by the door. Tomorrow they'll all get moved to the trunk of my car, and on Wednesday -- since Monday and Tuesday are holidays -- three of them will go to the YWCA thrift store for donation, one will go to the post office for belated holiday mailing, and another will go to the magazine recycling bin.
The mudroom holds more stuff waiting to be dealt with -- a large bag of trash left over from holiday gift-wrapping; cardboard and empty boxes to be recycled; a bag of paper for shredding. There's still more inside the cabin that I haven't yet gotten to -- laundry to put away, holiday decorations to take down and store, some computer-related relics I just listed on eBay, school papers to file, a box of car stuff that needs to be sorted before going back to the trunk.
I feel overwhelmed.
I know I'm not the only one. Most of my friends struggle with the demands of clutter and homekeeping. (That's the new, hip term for frumpy old "housekeeping.") They consider me the neat freak of the bunch, although I hardly feel tidy enough to deserve the title. It's true, though, that over the years I've made a study of homekeeping, organization and decor. Because clutter and disorder make me feel overwhelmed and stressed, I consciously set out to learn ways to better manage them. I have learned that I'm calmer, happier and more productive when my surroundings are clean.
Around a decade ago, I figured out why I was a packrat (might need it! it's valuable! it's sentimental!) and slowly conquered that tendency. Like a snake shedding skins, I shed layers of stuff until everything in my home affirmed at least one of the following questions:
- Do I use it?
- Do I love it?
Let me tell you, that feels good.
"But I might need it someday!" is a trap many of us fall into. I still fight it in myself. But unlike our grandparents, we're not living through a depression. We're living in a time of plenty. In fact, we're living in a time of too much. Too Much Stuff.
We have So Much Stuff that the National Association of Professional Organizers has declared January Get Organized Month. We have So Much Stuff that most January magazine covers are devoted to "Clearing Clutter" and "Organizing Your Life!" We have So Much Stuff that box stores are busy exchanging holiday displays for rows and rows of plastic bins.
But like Flylady says, "You can't organize clutter." You just have to get rid of it.
Flylady is, among all the organizational gurus, my hero. She's not fancy or syndicated or even a very good speller, but she's smart. And she's Been There. For all her cutesy little acronyms and catchphrases -- STUFF is "Something That Undermines Family Fun"; CHAOS is "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome"; take Baby Steps; don't clean your home, bless it -- the woman is remarkably down to earth. She's lived it, she's figured it out, she's still figuring it out, and she's sharing with us. Three hundred and sixty-eight thousand of us, that is, who subscribe to her daily email reminders to "Go Shine Your Sink!" and "Do Your Before Bed Routine," among others.
I admit, I was skeptical as hell about the shining-your-sink thing. I mean, how silly! But although I still resist sometimes, I've learned that going to bed with a sinkful of dirty dishes is the surest way to wreck the next day before it's even started.
I've been following Flylady for a couple of years, and truly, I don't know how I could manage grad school and working 30 hours a week without her. I'm not perfect -- fortunately, Flylady says I don't have to be -- but shining my sink, having a weekly routine and decluttering regularly have transformed my life and my home.
For all my evangelizing, I don't think it really matters whether you follow Flylady or Martha Stewart or some other system -- just that you have a system. Figure out what needs to be done every day, every week, every month, to keep your home functioning in a way that feeds your soul. For me, it's doing the dishes every night, taking the trash out twice a week, watering the plants once a week, vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom every week or two. It's also digging out every couple of months -- decluttering, filling bags, hauling them to the thrift store and the recycling center.
My new goal is to have every part of my house look like something that could be featured in the Pretty Organized group on Flickr. (Stop snickering!) I'm addicted to this group, and to home decor books, and to magazines like Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and Domino. I like to call these diversions "house porn."
Hey, we all need something to strive for. And in an era of Too Much, some of us need lessons on how to cultivate Just Enough.
