Since retiring and because I want to concentrate on writing short stories and poetry, I have decided that I need to downsize by getting rid of a lot of clutter, especially the ornaments and bits and bobs that take forever to dust. When arranging a visit to my eldest daughter a while ago, I had said to her that I would just be able to fit the cleaning in before going to see her. She said to me "Leave the cleaning. Or do you want 'I wish I'd done a bit more dusting' as your epitaph? She was right of course (but don't tell her)!
The problem is, where to start. Not all of it will be thrown away because I hate the idea of waste and prefer to recycle where possible, so much will be recycled by one of the local scout groups who I know will be having a jumble sale in March. Ornaments and crockery that is not used will be sent there along with a few travel books that I won't need anymore as holidays abroad ceased a long time ago.
I also have a load of photographs that were taken at various locations from holidays that I had abroad but I have never looked at them since putting them in albums so I need to sort those out and throw them away. Then I'll have room in my bookcase for all my cookery books!
Sometimes I wonder why we surround ourselves with so much unecessary 'stuff'. Do I really need eight vases in different sizes and colours when I rarely have fresh flowers indoors and when I do, I always use the same vase? What about all these little brass knick-knacks that I spend a couple of hours polishing every two to three months and is the iron that doesn't steam anymore really worth keeping? Perhaps I really don't need six assorted shopping bags AND two shopping trolleys!
As I'm not a sentimentalist and can easily part with most of my possessions its just the getting started bit I need to get underway.
The biggest problem will be with my jewellery (that all stays!) and my clothes. Now I hate to admit it, but the scruffy old cardigan which is covered in bobbly bits that I am currently wearing, is over ten years old! I have two nice new ones upstairs but I cannot bear to part with anything that 'still has plenty of wear in it' and the wardrobe currently has at least five pairs of 'gardening jeans' on the shelf but I really don't think my backyard warrants that many!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a scruff, but I think I may need hypnosis to go through the wardrobes!
I think it's in our nature to gather and collect things. When Ray and I moved into our new house, was when loads of things were off to charity and the trash. Once I got started it became alot easier. My motto was, "If it isn't worth moving, it goes".
ReplyDeleteMom had left us a lovely oak entertainment center when she passed away. It was so heavy and large there was no way we were going to get it through the front door of the new house. So I called a used furniture store. They sold it for me on consignment. We weren't risking a back injury moving it and someone else got a nice bargain.
I label boxes before thinning out my "treasures". Some are labeled
"charity", "family" and finally "keep".
You'll be amazed how fast you can get it all finished.
Ray says we need to clear out the old stuff so we can shop and replace it with our new stuff. lol
Nice to know I get some things right then! Cleaning tends not to be No.1 priority when you have three muddy dogs constantly trailing indoors, so be thankful!
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