So as I told you the other day, Mi, I’ve started to tackle The Boxes. Hopefully I will keep up the pace and then move on to The Cream Cupboard followed by The Bookshelves. The dream of that wall-to-wall bookshelf in your room is alive and well!
But you know, Life does get in the way all the time. I propose, and I dispose. Talk about being self-made, eh? Sigh.
Of course you know I’ve managed to clear out three shelves of The Cream Cupboard (considering that I am taking forever to check this off my to-do list, it deserves title case, don’t you think!). I proudly house part of my wardrobe in that space. the bottom two shelves have stuff that needs to be sorted out still. I suspect that I don’t need much of it. But you know how that stupid “just in case” mentality works out. Yuck.
Sometimes I loathe myself for keeping stuff. I keep myself motivated by the thought of yet another birthday looming up over the horizon. And well, who gets younger, eh? Maybe I will, once I’ve gotten rid of all the stuff I keep rent-free, and have not needed for years!
Decluttering ain’t easy! I shudder to think of tackling the garage. I did pay it the cursory visit last month. I was recollecting how you and I went down one day–you, fully determined to clear out stuff, and me, happy for the support. To think those days we opened and shut the garage six times a day! Yipes! Remember how we called the cleaner and removed boxes and boxes of magazines and other stuff?
Sometimes I wonder why it hasn’t been easy to maintain that space. But you know how it is. Anything extra we don’t know what to do with, is simply moved to the garage to deal with at a later date. That date, of course, is always far off. But now, I am determined to clear it out. Perhaps it is also time to get the walls repaired. Many people got their garages renovated, but we didn’t, as it didn’t seem to need it at that point. So now I am telling myself, let the monsoon pass.
I recall those days when we imagined setting up a library that would double up as a tuition class. Pipe dreams . . . never a dearth of those.
Somehow, clearing out the kitchen attic keeps getting postponed. It has been a while and sometimes I fear I might forget what’s in those boxes.
Good news, though, is I got an opportunity to clear out the linen cupboard as well as our wardrobes to donate to the Kerala flood relief along with groceries and other supplies. So heart-breaking to see entire towns washed away. Nobody can predict or handle Mother Nature’s fury . . . but this time around, the devastation has been terrible. I am doing what I can. Sigh.
I am conscious, on a daily basis, how important it is to live in the moment. Sometimes it is so hard because we humans are so great about lugging our emotional baggage along; it drags us down, yet we don’t care and often prefer to pull it along. I like to think I am getting better at letting it all go . . . but old habits, Mi. Old habits.