A sense of freedom, clarity, and general lightness of being accompanies an uncluttered space — in your kitchen, in your office, and in your life.
– David Allen, from the foreward in Unclutter Your Life in 1 Week.
I’ve spent a little time each of the last few days going through my stuff. I started with my files. I had a couple of old file boxes in the storage closet mostly organized and neatly categorized. I say mostly because everything that was filed prior to 2005 was meticulously filed away. But there were a few things from 2006 and 2007 that were just sort of shoved in on top. I felt like an archeologist discovering the remains of an ancient kingdom. I used to be organized. Well, I have spurts where I put things in order followed by periods of letting it accumulate. 2005 and prior, these cycles were much shorter. The accumulation phase this time has gone on now for a couple of years… which is a long way of saying this decluttering is long overdue.
I managed to reduce the 2 boxes down to 1 that is only half full, and shifted the active files into a small file cart I picked up at Target. Just this small accomplishment made me feel a little lighter.
From the files, I moved on to my closet and dresser. This one has taken a couple of passes, but I think almost a third (maybe more?) of the clothes have been set aside to be taken to Goodwill or a consignment shop. That’s a lot of stuff that I wasn’t wearing either because I didn’t like the style, it no longer fits, or it just plain got lost (I uncovered a couple of sweaters that I forgot I even had… and I like them. It was like Christmas all over again).
My one tripping point thus far has been shoes. I can’t seem to part with them as easily as clothes. Even shoes that I never wear. Even shoes that hurt my feet. I cannot explain this. I have no logic behind it… it’s purely an emotional response. The best I can offer is that I like pretty shoes. I did manage to put all of them back into their boxes and organize them so that now I at least can see what I have. I will have to revisit the shoes again later after I’ve had time to regroup.
This decluttering ritual used to be a semiannual occurrence for me. But like I said, somewhere around 2005 or 2006 I seemed to enter a dormant phase. I’ll talk about why I think I hit that phase later when I discuss decluttering my mind. For now, I am happy to have started this process finally. I’ve been saying that I needed to do it for a very long time indeed (a fact which my boyfriend can attest to.. he’s also glad I’m finally doing this).
Tomorrow, I’ll sort the clothes to take to Goodwill vs a consignment shop and take the first load. I can feel my insides unwinding a little at the thought of being rid of it.
How often do you filter and purge your closets? Are there papers you’ve been hiding in a box that you really don’t need? If you feel bogged down and aren’t sure why, you might consider a round of decluttering… it is liberating.
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