Attic Work
I probably should have waited for the start of Advent or even Lent to do it. It's a job for a penitentail season.
But a couple of days ago I decided to tackle the attic.
I've always said that should I ever decide to take my career in a Martha Stewart direction I would write a book about housekeeping. I'd call it "The Joy of Throwing Things Out."
I hate to organize stuff, but I love throwing things out. The feeling of freedom, of liberation, of "done with this" that comes from tossing out things you've been saving for years is the best. You want a new lease on life, you gotta makes some room for it. You gotta clear some space.
I've been at the job for about four days now. So far I've taken one carload of donations to the Arc Center and put out about fifty bags of trash. I've also left one item of furniture on that strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk. I didn't even have to put a "Free!" sign on it, it was gone the next time I looked.
I've gotten rid of all kinds of things. Yesterday I packed up a couple of cartons of Halloween decorations. I've decided to go minimalist next year. A couple of stuffed ravens, a styrofoam skull, I'm good. Out with the cute smiling pumpkin tablerunners and the matching placemats. Who needs cute for Halloween when you can have eerie? What was I thining when I bought that stuff? I have no idea.
No, wait, I do have an idea. I was trying to be nice. I was trying to be cheerful. Jeez, what a waste of time.
And books. I've gotten rid of cartons of books. This is tough- I may not be some fancy schmancy bibliophile but I sure as heck am a book hoarder. How many copies of "The Alexandria quartet" have I acquired over the years? I can't even count them. But as of this moment my total is: zero.
Yeah. Feels good. I'm on a roll.
But a couple of days ago I decided to tackle the attic.
I've always said that should I ever decide to take my career in a Martha Stewart direction I would write a book about housekeeping. I'd call it "The Joy of Throwing Things Out."
I hate to organize stuff, but I love throwing things out. The feeling of freedom, of liberation, of "done with this" that comes from tossing out things you've been saving for years is the best. You want a new lease on life, you gotta makes some room for it. You gotta clear some space.
I've been at the job for about four days now. So far I've taken one carload of donations to the Arc Center and put out about fifty bags of trash. I've also left one item of furniture on that strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk. I didn't even have to put a "Free!" sign on it, it was gone the next time I looked.
I've gotten rid of all kinds of things. Yesterday I packed up a couple of cartons of Halloween decorations. I've decided to go minimalist next year. A couple of stuffed ravens, a styrofoam skull, I'm good. Out with the cute smiling pumpkin tablerunners and the matching placemats. Who needs cute for Halloween when you can have eerie? What was I thining when I bought that stuff? I have no idea.
No, wait, I do have an idea. I was trying to be nice. I was trying to be cheerful. Jeez, what a waste of time.
And books. I've gotten rid of cartons of books. This is tough- I may not be some fancy schmancy bibliophile but I sure as heck am a book hoarder. How many copies of "The Alexandria quartet" have I acquired over the years? I can't even count them. But as of this moment my total is: zero.
Yeah. Feels good. I'm on a roll.
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