Preparing to purge!
We have all done it...Picked up that magazine
that tells us how to simplify our lives. Read the advice. Daydreamed about that
perfect closet that has everything neatly organized. Wondered how we could be
one of those people that are used as an example and gets decluttered by the
professionals.
I have been doing this a lot lately, reading
those magazine articles on living simply, and minimalism.
This is my current predicament. I have stacks of this and
piles of that. Where does it go? How do I deal
with it? Surly others must have this same problem, hence all those articles
dedicated to solving this one issue. What to do with all the crap? The last
thing I want to do is compartmentalize it into more plastic storage containers.
Their solutions don’t fix my problem.
As I type and think, type and think, I realize writing
this post is a last ditch effort of procrastination. I will tweak this though and instead use the word
accountability. Writing this post, explaining my actions, will hold me
accountable for this process. This blog will force me to tackle my problem head
on.
I must say, this is such a huge subject for me
personally. It reaches down to the core of my soul, agitating it with
emotions and facts, until I am a confused pitiful mass of wet laundry. My creativity
suffocates under the weight of it. I cannot leave my soul cowering, wet and
soggy just to get mildewed, and have to go through the whole agitating process
again. I must cram all that weight into the dryer; add comedy and satire to
lighten the load. But where will I put it when it comes out light and fluffy
and folded neatly? Where? Back in the laundry basket to get rumpled by children
looking for clean underwear? On top of my dresser, because the drawers are
full. In a plastic box, wrapped in acid free paper, labeled neatly, and shoved
into the Attic? Maybe a cute wicker basket perched atop the printer?
Yes, I am overwhelmed. This touches on
guilt, and sentiment, latent environmentalism, definitions of family, love, and
together time, responsibility at its finest. Accountability for our behavior is
the lesson I try to keep in mind.
Why am I doing this? I have to explain it to each one of my children, my
parents, my husband, my friends, the World Wide Web, and now myself.
What is it that we need to be truly happy? How
many possessions do we really need to feel successful? What are we
obligated to keep for posterity? These are age-old questions; I am not
the first to ask them.
No this is much too LARGE a topic for one blog
post. So, I am doing a segmented series.
Please join me, for this is my crazy journey.
Have a peep see into the consciousness of Katy. I would have the same
problem no matter where I lived. But living here makes it a little more
complicated. Here meaning Pennock Island of course. Also, though, here meaning
Ketchikan, here meaning Alaska, most certainly here meaning The United States
of America, but also when your brain is like mine, it is also meaning here on
this Planet.
This will be a comprehensive explanation as to
the how and why I make most of the decisions I do every day. I am not
perfect; you will see how much of a hypocrite I am. How I struggle with the
concept of freedom and responsibility. I think most people should ponder all of
these things as I do, maybe everyone else does it more than I do. (Those are the feelings of inadequacy
that feed the feelings of guilt.) Maybe though, other issues such as health, or
safety, overwhelm them too much.
Which brings me full circle to... “How lucky!
How truly ever so lucky of a ducky, I am!” (Borrowed from a favorite, Dr.
Seuss) I am living here on this fine planet. I have all of my basic needs
covered; shelter, love, safety, and health. I am so lucky I can dwell on my petty issues of garbage and
guilt. I hope, with all my heart, truly, truly we can all be so lucky. Then
maybe, just maybe our issues of guilt and garbage can disappear, and our souls
can dance freely in open spaces, and not be balanced on top of a pile of junk.
