The other day one of Bert's meetings was canceled at the last minute so he offered to take the girls for the afternoon so that I could enjoy some time to myself. At this point in my life time to myself is just about my favorite thing ever. For some reason though, I couldn't for the life of me come up with anything worthwhile to do. I wasn't interested in any of the movies currently showing and although I always enjoy leisurely browsing through the stacks at the bookstore (not possible with Una and Duet shadowing me), I didn't particularly feel like searching for new books to read when I'm in the middle of a fantastic book already (I mentioned it earlier, Steinbeck's East of Eden. Read it and and I promise you will not be disappointed. I have fewer than 100 pages to go). As you know, shopping is something I'm trying to avoid so I didn't think it would be such a smart move to go hang out at the mall. Plus I'm not 15 years old anymore, and I don't think I've really hung out at the mall since I was that age.
Bert and the girls left and I was planning on following shortly behind. I even made it out the door but by the time I got to my car I realized that what I really wanted to do didn't involve leaving the house at all. If I was honest with myself, I wanted to use the time I had in my empty house to de-clutter my bedroom. I should mention that I'm not one of those people who naturally enjoys organizing and de-cluttering (I know those people exist. My mom is one of them), so I was struck by how odd it was to actually have a desire to do that over other activities. But my motto is, "if the mood strikes, go for it." My adherence to that motto could explain the purchase of the still unopened workout DVDs that I bought after viewing the infomercial during a midnight feeding with Duet when she was a month old. At the time Yoga Booty Ballet (I kid you not, that's the title) seemed like a fun and effective way to lose the baby weight. I however, chose the lazy route and ended up going on the Slim Fast diet instead. It totally worked by the way.
Where were we? Oh yes, my afternoon off. So I marched back into my house and started clearing out excess junk from my bedroom. It took me over an hour and a half to get things straightened out and organized (that's how bad it was), but I was so pleased with the results. I can't explain it other than to say that it just feels better when I walk in there. I feel better. It's calmer and I like it. Hopefully I can get to the point where my whole house feels that way. I'm not there yet, but it's nice to walk into my room and have a reminder that it's possible.
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4 comments:
OK, so I am that person who loves to organize and de-clutter everything. I get a rush when I get rid of things I don't use or need anymore. For awhile I was doing the Fly Lady thing, then my life got a little more complicated (new baby) and I have a hard keeping any sort of schedule let alone a cleaning/de-cluttering schedule. But, one thing I still try to do, is not junk up my room. I want my room to be my getaway from the stresses outside my bedroom door. I need to be calm and relaxed when I finally go in there to sleep and if there is crap everywhere I can't relax. You should start to notice that calm feeling now yourself! Way to go!
The minute I read that Bert had offered to take the girls to give you some time for yourself, I said to myself, 'that Bert is one jewel of a husband!'
I had to smile when you decided to stay at home and declutter. That's exactly what I would have done. I totally understand and relate to the feeling you had/have when you walk into your newly organized bedroom. I think Liz and I would get along famously. Fly Lady says that your bedroom should be a refuge [so do social scientists].
Maybe you inherited some of the organizational gene from your mom and it has just been lying latent.
I'm glad you were successful! The other day I had the same goal. But cleaning my room took over 5 hours. It literally had become the dumping ground for any random box or dirty sock (for reals) So, when Matt came home he expressed amazement at how large our room actually is! Isn't it funny when you do have time to yourself, you never end up doing the things you fantasize about.
liz--thanks for your encouragement. you are the second person to mention fly lady. here's a brilliant plan, since you enjoy de-cluttering so much, when you get back you can come and de-clutter my house. i'm sure you would find it most rewarding. :)
baba/ann--a jewel indeed. i'm not sure i have that organizing gene though. if i did have it, it wouldn't be such a struggle to keep things together. i'll keep working on it though.
katie--good for you for organizing your bedroom too. great minds think alike. now that you mention it, my room seems bigger too.
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