Dear Friends,

“Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions” ~ Barbara Hemphill

There is a point each year that I get the urge to clean out, throw out, downsize, and just get rid of stuff. I start to fill my porch with bags and boxes. Some items are earmarked as a donation, much of it is headed to the dump and occasionally I will think about a yard sale and will fill the garage with potential items. For some reason my internal “hoarder alert” is on full blast and I am doing it now, slightly ahead of my normal spring-haul away.

Have you seen that challenge about your clothes? At the start of the year there is this thing that pops up online about turning all of the hangers in your closet backwards and as you wear something it gets put back correctly. By the end of the year, whatever you didn’t wear gets taken away. Every year when I see this and think that it’s such a great idea, and then months go by, and I never do it.

Why am I waiting a whole year? I know what I wear and what I don’t. I am finally doing it! I have started going through my closet, shelves and drawers and I am getting rid of anything I can’t recall wearing, things I won’t wear and things I never should have ever worn. By the way, fringe is never “in”.

Hands up for those who have those clothes they are saving for “when they lose some weight”? Anyone else? As someone who has lost a few inches in the past year (thank you My Home Gym and Sheri, my early morning gym buddy), that’s a lie.

When you do finally lose the inches, you don’t want old … you want new. You want to celebrate that you can fit into smaller sized clothes and that celebration comes with the joy of shopping. The result is new clothes and the struggle of finding room for them, while you push the old ones aside. Not only do you run out of room, but you also run out of hangers. Don’t buy new hangers … it’s a sign. You need to get rid of some things.

I have a whole room full of things categorized as “If I need it again”, “If someone else needs it” and “I’ll never use again but I can’t part with it”. I have an entire shelf of things from my wedding, over a decade ago, that I can’t part with but will never use again. Old equipment, a brand-new printer that my daughter needed for college and never opened (probably a relic by now), bags, baskets and tote bags, old newspapers that we found when we did some renovations to the house, glassware, candles, lights and decorative items. I am still holding onto a few things from my wedding planner days (just in case someone needs it!).

Let’s talk mugs. I am a collector (my daughter says hoarder) of coffee mugs. I have over 100 coffee mugs. Seasonal mugs, mugs from travel, mugs that were gifts, mugs from my family home that my mom gave me when I got my first apartment, mugs in shapes of animals, mugs with funny quotes, small mugs, oversized mugs.

Rachael’s chore when she was younger was putting away the dishes and she would often complain that there was no room in the cabinet where the mugs went. She would roll her eyes and complain when I brough home a new mug and say that there was no room to put them. Finally, she’d had enough. She found a box and packed away a large number of these mugs into our back room. It took me a while to realize this, and only when I went looking for a specific one. I have relented and have continued the practice of putting away mugs from time to time, but I still can’t part with them. The youngest, now in charge of putting away dishes, gives me the same look when I come home with a new one and occasionally demands that I remove a few before she does.

This brings me to the book situation. I have shared before that I am an avid reader. I love to read, I love books, and I never get rid of any books. As a result, I have bookshelves scattered throughout my house stacked with books. I also have several large totes in the basement full of books too. Like any bookworm, my goal is to one day have an entire room dedicated to books. Picture the library from “Beauty and the Beast” and you have the idea. Minus the curse and the whole kidnapping thing.

As I look around my house, I really do have a lot of things I could get rid of and need to let go of. My husband and I have been talking about moving; his dream of country living is long overdue. As we begin to think about putting our house up for sale one thing is clear: we have some cleaning out to do. It helps to think about moving as we start to make our way through the house. “Do I really want to pack and move that?”. If the answer is no, then the question of if you need it has been answered.

Have you practiced Feng Shui? It’s an ancient Chinese practice of changing your physical environment to revamp your energy, clear your mind and make way for other things; not physical things, it’s more emotional, mental and energy. It really works! I can’t tell you how much lighter I felt after cleaning out my closet. Not only did I feel energized and like I accomplished something great, but it motivated me to want to do more.

Let the purge begin!

Be well,

Kerri

The views and opinions expressed in this publication does not necessarily reflect the views and positions of any entity that this author represents.