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Wednesday, October 11, 2017

A Year to Clear

Last week, I stumbled across a clutter clearing course called "A Year to Clear What is Holding You Back". It wasn't expensive so, on a whim, and following my intuition, I signed up. Rather than tackling your clutter in an intense and all consuming way and risking burn out and rebound issues it focuses on the "slow drip" method. The idea is to clear a little bit each day forming a habit, while spending time uncovering any deep rooted and personal reasons for clutter, both inside and out, emotional as well as environmental clutter.

Tidying up the sewing room one baby step at a time.

It's amazing how the commitment to clearing just one item, or for just a minute or two each day gains momentum all on its own and without any forcing of it. In only one week I can see improvement, but more importantly I feel it. The energy in the home improves when you take steps towards getting rid of unneeded items and taking care of the items worthy of saving.

Yesterday I started tidying up the sewing room one baby step at a time. I gave the room a high priority since the mess and cramped quarters robs me of the joy I normally find in being creative. First to get under control was a mess of lace and trims saved for crazy quilting. I consider these to be "keepers" but the loose jumble had taken over a small shelf and the mess was an eyesore, a source of aggravation, and not easy or pleasant to use.

This looks and feels so much better! The pretty little basket was one I had on hand but I'll have to replace it with something a bit larger. I know that through my lack of organization in there, and my multiple hobbies, I have more than one "stash pile" of lace, ribbons, and trims and I'd like to combine them all in an organized, compact, and more user friendly way. The 2" x 3" cards (cut from greeting cards) works well but I'll need a bigger container.

3 comments:

Gene Black said...

I tried clearing using the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Since she has you do a lot at once, it didn't work. I burned out quickly. I think it is much harder for "makers" to toss stuff that has potential as a creative supply.

Joanne@ Desertmountainbear said...

Must be the time of the year. I am also in the process of clearing out my work space. It sure feels good.

Marlene said...

I borrowed that book from the library Gene and wasn't all that impressed. I felt the author bordered on compulsive/obsessive and couldn't imagine organizing my home that way. About the only habit I picked up from the book is to treat my possessions with respect, though I can't say I treated them disrespectively before that! I got a LOT more out of "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" even though I'm not really into Feng Shui. One thing "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" really focused on is that it is not enough to "organize" or "store" your clutter or to move it from one place to another. As you say craft supplies are kind of a special circumstance since a crafter truly does need their stash, but a lot of the clutter in a home is just unused, unloved, junk that really should be tossed (or donated).

I did a major decluttering of our home about 15 years ago and I remember the wonderful feeling and the incredible burst of energy it brought with it. The decluttering isn't as necessary this time as it's mostly confined to my crafting rooms, but I am really finding quite a few things that could move along since I've lost interest in my doll hobby.