Remember, recycling counts!

I've been measuring my progress by full bins of trash taken to the curb and hauled
away. But this week, the bin is not quite so full as last time. Though it would be,
if I were throwing out the old, horribly heavy, bulky PC and monitor that I just got
rid of. Instead, my friend Dave, bless him, packed it into his car and hauled it to the
Y recycling center for me. We transferred the data to my new, lighter machine, and
it was such a relief to give the old boat anchor the deep six. I feel ever so much
lighter when I look at the space it used to occupy.

The same goes for the 3 heavy boards that my friend Roddy took away for me.
They were a foot wide, an inch thick each, and about 5 feet long. I'd kept them for
six years, in case of needing to block a window in a bad storm. But I've aged, my
arm strength has declined, and the odds of me nailing those boards across a window,
now? Virtually nil. (I have some lighter weight ones I can reasonably manage, in the
rare event that we get such a storm.)

Meanwhile, Roddy needed some good sturdy boards to make a walkway across a
stream. So he gets the boards for his footbridge, and I get more space by my back
door. Win-win.

So even without a full trash bin this time, it's still been a good week for lightening
up!

More changes - dejunking the junk drawer

I have saved random misc. stuff and carted it from dwelling to dwelling for decades.
But today, I challenged that.

I took on the junk drawer. It's time to practice some of the new viewpoints.

Take thumbtacks. The last 3 times I tried to use one, simply trying to press it into the
wall made it fold unusably flat. Thumb tacks are probably really only meant for use
on cork boards. But I do not like cork boards because they get crumbly with use. I
threw away the last one I owned about a decade, and six moves ago.

So why did I still have dozens of thumbtacks? Habit. Even after they proved unusable.
(And I put up the decoration with a pushpin instead, since those are sturdier.) But today,
that changed. The thumbtacks are disposed of. As are the screws. When I thought about
it, I cannot recall one single thing I've needed one of those for, in at least the past three
years. Yet during that time, I often wound up spilling containers of them and picking
them up. No more of that! Now, when I find them, out they go.

And twist ties by the dozen - away with those! Keep a few, as I sometimes use some
in craft projects. But I will never ever need 170 extra. All those extra are now trashed.

Dozens of old scraps of paper are now tossed or recycled. Corroded batteries? Away!

Pens are tested, ones that don't write are tossed. Usable ones are now all together in
one drawer divider. Dead, dried up glue stick? Pitched it.

So with all the useless things removed, I now have a tidy drawer full of small useful
items, like pens and markers, rubber bands, functional batteries, candle and matches,
solar flashlight, trash bags and such, all where I can find them easily.

I like this ever so much better than having a junk drawer!

Changing behavior patterns - releasing unfinished projects

Several years ago, I bought a scrapbook at the thrift shop. I saved newspaper articles
into it, about the Olympics, and President Obama's election, because I wanted to to
remember those events. (I have ADD and did not trust my memory, because my
memory can have gaps in it.)

But then I realized - those events have made an impression on my life, in good
ways. I truly do not need some yellowing pieces of newsprint to remember them
by. And if I need a memory prompt, I can go online, Google search Barak Obama,
or the Olympics, and get thousands of articles, and images in crisp, clear colors,
with no blurs or fading from aging ink.

So I gave myself permission to let it go. I took out the plastic posts that held the pages
together, and recycled the inside papers and the cardboard covers. That thing was
heavy! I will not miss the weight of it.

Changes in behavior that this took, for me to accomplish -
1) I gave myself the go-ahead to release old newspapers and clippings
2) I let go of guilt over not finishing this project
3) I stopped storing it, to finish it "Some Day"

I changed my mind. I do not want to complete this scrap book now. And that's OK. I'm
allowed to do that. It's my right to rethink, and choose differently. New point of view -
if it does not enrich my life, let it go.

I'd also kept a single drawer storage unit to keep the scrap book in. Don Aslett, author of
Clutter's Last Stand, (a wonderfully funny and also useful decluttering book) calls those
storage spaces "junk bunkers", and rightly so. Good news - I'm tossing that old partially
broken storage unit as well.

Here's a link to Don's books on cleaning and decluttering:
http://www.cleanreport.com/Books-by-Don-Aslett-c2.html
His book, Clutter's Last Stand, remains my go-to book for practical, humane advice
written in a laugh-out-loud humorous style. I highly recommend it!

So I'm off to a good start, today. Let's see what else I can find to let go of, next.

letting go of old habits, as well as objects

My Mom taught me to save buttons. A shirt, with very ordinary buttons, might wear out,
and there she would be, cutting the buttons off and saving them "for later." I picked up
the habit without questioning it, decades ago.

Fast forward to today. I am finding random loose ordinary buttons that I saved, because
of that habit. And now, I'm throwing them away. Why? Because I am now questioning
what I once did, without thinking about it. So I noticed, the vast majority of my clothing
now is pullover, and does not even have buttons on it at all!

So away with those needless buttons - I'm one bit closer to fine, without them!

Tip of the day: releasing sentimental attachments to old fliers

In the early 90s I went to the Bridge of Flowers in Shellburne, MA. It was a cool
conversion from a disused trolley bridge to a scenic floral walkway. I wanted to
remember it. So for years, I kept the information handout I got there, even though
it was outdated and worn.

Until today. Today, I looked it up online, and bookmarked the page:
http://www.bridgeofflowersmass.org/

I admired the many beautiful photos of the gardens there, and shared the link with
my friends.

Then, best of all, I put the old ragged handout in the recycling! Because I've found
a way, now, to both cherish the memory, and release the clutter. I will be doing this
more often, as other old handouts resurface.

Dealing with feelings

I did very well last week - threw out an entire large trash can full of discards,
got rid of two full tubs of recycling, and donated books to the library book sale.

When I think about that trash can full being gone, I feel lighter. Yet when I think
about staying on task this week, I feel nervous. I've already stayed on task better
than other attempts. But there's still a long way to go. Can I keep it up for the long
haul? I hope so. Have to take it a day at a time, and see.

I have already filled one of the recycling tubs full of discarded paper again. So
that's progress. Yet I notice that sometimes, I have a tendency to discount my
efforts, when they have not yet matched last week. I need to pace myself, though,
and not push myself too hard. Being pushed brings up strong overwhelmed
feelings. If instead, I can coax myself along, I can usually keep the level of anxiety
mild enough to keep on making modest progress, and not get so stressed out that I
stop altogether. So I write this to remind me of what is working for me.

A thing to change is, let myself value each stage of progress. A full recycling tub is
one more step in the right direction. I need to notice that it is *in addition* to last
week, not less than last week. I need to keep a clear and positive perspective.

When I begin to feel stuck, it is helping me to take a short break, and do something
fun. I have some one minute solitaire games I play online, and playing one or two
rounds is relaxing, yet short enough not to completely sidetrack me.

When I return from the break, I look for something small and simple to do, that
builds on my previous success. When I'm making good progress in the living
room, clearing another section adds to what's already ben accomplished, for
example. This gets me back into the flow of the releasing process.

I need to keep finding more ways to lighten the anxiety. Like listening to instrumental
music that calms me, while I work. That's something that helped me stay on task,
last Friday.

Anxiety is a big derailing emotion, so anything I can do to reduce it boosts progress.
I will keep working on that, and post anything I find helpful.

What this is *not*, and what it is.

There will be no instructions for 17 cute, pretty ways to organize your paperclips here.
If that is what you wish, good luck, but go seek elsewhere.

This is not about how to decoratively store your stuff. It is about giving yourself chances
to get rid of stuff. If you're looking for help with letting go, this is for you. Welcome. :)

This is not just about decluttering, it's about changing attitudes

In my 57 years, I've decluttered more times than I can remember. But without meaning
to, I kept the the hoarding patterns learned from my Mom and Dad. So, the cluttering
always crept back. This blog is not just about decluttering, although I'm working on
that, as part of this experience.

My parents were children of the Great Depression, and that had major after-effects all their lives. They saved masses of things, "because we might need it some day." Sound familiar? I bet that will ring a bell with quite a lot of you. And yet, as the masses piled up, fell over, got hopelessly mixed together in the backyard shed, or collected in rusting coffee cans in the basement, did my Dad ever question whether he could find any of these things, if "Some Day" ever came? If he did, it was not in my hearing.

My Mom did question, after fighting her way through clearing out Dad's build-up in
basement and shed, after his death. And to her credit, she then set out to reduce her own
collections, so it would be easier for her daughters and son to settle her affairs, at her
own passing. We very much appreciated her efforts, when the time came to do that.

Yet while this was going on, I had carried the collecting habit into my adulthood, myself. I had, and am still wrestling with, an accumulation of belongings and unsorted papers that I felt embarrassed about, yet felt overwhelmed when I tried to sort. I would make a little progress, then hit a sticking point, and creep away in despair. I hid the accumulation in storage and spare rooms, but made little progress lowering the levels, even when faced with moving to a new place to live. I'd get overwhelmed, pitch it all into boxes, and haul all the weight of it to the next place, hoping halfheartedly to do better "Some Day."

But there is no magical Some Day, when everything becomes easy to manage. There is only Today. Right now.

So this is about how I've begun taking each Today, and making changes, to make my life more workable.

This blog is about attitude changes, that are allowing me to rethink, and release objects that I've unquestioningly carried around for quite literally decades.

I used to think, "I must save this. Dad assumed I'll need it." Then I realized, that's not the point.

What matters is: do I, personally, use this thing, right now? Not, did I once use it, years
ago, but right now, in the present time.

So I now have changed to asking myself:
For instance, about a box of nails, given to me by my Dad.
1) How long have I had this?
Answer - decades. I moved it from place to place, many, many times.
2) How often have I used this?
Answer - rarely
3) Could I find it when I did need it?
Answer - usually not
4) What kind of shape is it in?
Answer - nails have begun rusting, and I am unlikely to use them
5) Can I toss this now?
Answer - yes

Obstacles to progress - I feel guilty that I did not use the nails before they began rusting.
And at that point, I have to say to me, "Self, I forgive you for that. Let it go now."

I feel the weight of the box in my hand. I've carried this weight more years than I want to
admit. It became a burden. But now, I say to myself, as I take it to the trash, "This is the
last time you even have to move this, except for putting it out on the curb, to get hauled
away."

And that feels good. That feels freeing.

And if I need a few nails, next week? They're not expensive. I'll go to the hardware store,
buy the exact size I need, and use them. I will not spend hours looking for the box and
then sorting through it to see if by chance, there are any the right size that aren't rusty.
(The answer to that was already no.) Overall, doing that will take a lot less time.

I am going to let go like that *more*, now! Yes!

I'm also going to talk about the feelings that go along with doing this. I hope it may help
others who are working on the same issues.