Kaitlin and Torben are getting their house remodeled, which meant moving into a rental home for a few months.
Moving…aargh! We’ve done our best to avoid that as much as possible. We moved here from Cornell 35 years ago partly because Andy was overdue for a sabbatical. The idea of moving for a year and then moving back didn’t really appeal to us. So when he was offered an attractive job here in New Mexico it was a no-brainer. It was well worth the trouble and half the work of a sabbatical.
That said, one advantage to the move for me was to go through all of my possessions and think carefully about what I wanted to take and what I could dispose of. It was a liberating feeling to notice how my interests and priorities had changed… to treasure past experiences but to let go of some of their physical remnants to make room for the new. So when Kaitlin and Torben moved it inspired me to start a massive decluttering of my apartment. That’s what I’ve been focusing on the past couple of weeks.
For incentive I had my rugs cleaned last Saturday…it kept me focused. I still have more drawers and closets to clean out and organize but the apartment looks great and I can do the rest in bits and pieces. The challenge now is to avoid immersing myself in some other project until I get this job finished. Decluttering is indeed liberating. Wish me luck!
What about you? How do you feel about decluttering? Is it as massive an effort for you as it is for me?
Decluttering is heartbreaking. If I get rid of something, then I think I really N-E-E-D it.
I’m attached sentimentally to old things. The girls went through their boxes of grade school art & stories and threw away most of it. My old clothes–I can’t even discuss that.
In spite of my attachment to STUFF, I love the look of stark rooms that I see in magazines.
bikehikebabe,
I’m savoring that uncluttered look now. Hopefully it will keep me going. 🙂
I tend to do de-cluttering in little pieces. Occasionally a big clean-out, usually when we move (which has been almost annually for the last few years).
Mostly it is just trivia, so not bad – just stuff that is good to be rid of.
.-= Evan´s last blog ..Coming Soon: Habits for Authenticity =-.
Evan,
Moving about once a year? That would be a good way of keeping things simple. I salute you. 🙂
I’m to the stage of decluttering in little pieces now, but my job was so huge I had to immerse myself in it for several days. I’m hoping not to let it get so far out of hand again.
Oh Jean, don’t talk to me about decluttering. It pains me not only since I am a minimalist at heart but am in the middle of moving as we speak.
Enter my son returning from wherever he is returning from to tell me how depressing it is to see me surrounded by bin bags, boxes and the house in a general state of disarray.
If ever there is a clutter trap it’s wedding presents. My son’s father implored me for years to “accidentally” drop a vessel which even with the best will in the world could only be described as awful. Naturally, he wouldn’t do it himself; and I refused since it came from a person dear to my heart. It did hit the floor eventually (by accident) and I was gutted though glad that nature and/or gravity had taken its course.
Yes, one needs to let go. If only to be fair to those tidying up after you have snuffed it.
Wishing you luck,
U
Move! To the other side of the world where we couldn’t take it with us. That would solve the problem. We’ve lived in this house for 45 years.
When we had the BIG FIRE that burned down part of our town, I thought that if we lost everything, we’ve use our money in the bank (wherever) & start over. I felt fine & good with that.
We moved to Japan for a few years and lived in a an apartment that was 1/4th the size of our previous house. Lots of junk had to go. It is amazing how much stuff people accumulate that they don’t need! For me, moving has been painful but also good for the soul.
I remember overhearing some coffee house wisdom when an elderly man was explaining that you should never accumulate more stuff than can be carried in the back of a ’64 mustang.
And have fun with the move!
.-= Looney´s last blog .. =-.
I am a compulsive declutterer! A habit that Urmeela and I picked up when we underwent many relocations in our life till finally we moved to Pune in 1990. After that, I set up two temporary homes in the South of India where Urmeela would join me for short spells, but the main base remained at Pune. Just last week Ranjan and I went through a lot of stuff and gave quite a lot away for a garage sale to finance an animal shelter. I have to now declutter my wardrobe of all my old formal business clothes and that is breaking my heart!
.-= Rummuser´s last blog ..Lies =-.
Rummuser, WEAR your formal business clothes. After all you are GOM (Grand Old Man). They’d become you. As soon as you get rid of them, you’ll be invited to a formal affair. You can’t (try to ) be a Hippie always.
I’m using what I value now instead of storing it away.
Ursula,
We solved the wedding present problem by saying we didn’t want any. We went to France for a year right after the wedding and didn’t want to be weighed down with stuff.
I agree with clearing things out for the sake of people having to clean up after us when we’ve shuffled off this mortal coil.
bikehikebabe,
I felt the same way about the evacuation. We spent the first two nights down in Albuquerque watching the TV coverage. The main shots were from about a block away from our apartment so we would know if it went up in flames. I was mentally prepared to start from scratch.
Looney,
I would miss having a study of my own. It’s nice having my own exercise equipment, a computer and all-in-one printer/copier/etc. I’m not big on clothes but I do love having my toys. 🙂
Rummuser,
I still have two favorite skirts from when I was working. Also a skirt from our square dancing days. The rest I’ve given away. It was a bit of a wrench but it was good to know that someone else could appreciate them too.
bikehikebabe,
Who says you can’t always be a hippie? If I ever get invited to an affair where I would have to wear a dress and fancy shoes I wouldn’t go. This is as good as it gets:
We bought Andy’s jacket and tie in France 45 years ago. The tie lives in his jacket pocket and when we got invited to a party when we were in Ithaca we always had to stop off at his office on the way to get the jacket. He wore it when he gave lectures so it lived at work.
Jean, I love your “to shuffle off this mortal coil”. At a suicide’s grave, in the name of precision, presumably one would have to say: “He jumped off this mortal coil”. Yes, there are many modes of moving. I generally just walk a plank, fall off it and make a splash – which, at times, is not as funny as it sounds.
Looking at your photo: You look so tiny. Are you? Or maybe a better word would be “petite”.
U
Ursula,
I’m a little over 5’4″. My mother was 5’2″ and my sister an even 5″. So as a kid I never thought of myself as short. Still don’t except when I look at pictures like that. Oh, wow. They are taller than I am. 🙂
Jumping off this mortal coil? Probably not. One of my husband’s favorite expressions is “One foot in the grave, another on a banana peel.” So we’ll probably just slip away some day. With maybe a thud when we land. 🙂
I’m a compulsive hoarder. I have to have a clearout every so often, though. No choice in the matter, we are a family of six and need our space….
gaelikaa,
That’s one thing I like about living in an apartment–I can’t possibly accumulate too much. Like you there comes a point when I have to declutter. Otherwise I start feeling hemmed in.
I have spent the last 2 summers sifting/sorting/biffing a lot of things away…some from previous flatmates who had left all sorts of ‘strange things’ here.
Some of the items found new homes via our local freecycle group, whilst others things ended up at the ‘dump’
I was still dealing with things up to a few months ago but then Uni became the focus and I had to stop, a small bedroom has a lot of boxes in it – waiting. Downstairs in the basement – Year 1 tidy up is still waiting for another looksee but the back of the basement is quite, quite empty…
At one point recently I couldn’t find my ‘winter clothing storage bag’ but then discovered it was right there, in that spare room…still haven’t entirely put away the ‘summer clothing as I have run out of energy’ but it will happen sooooooon.
I don’t have any business clothes left, as I dramatically dropped about 6 sizes and the stuff was just too large, I gave it away to an organisation called “Dress for Success” a charity sort of place that helps women who are entering the workforce and cannot afford to buy nice business suits etc.
.-= Cathy in NZ´s last blog ..going up and sometimes dropping down the pit – update =-.
Cathy,
I remember you writing about uncluttering and admiring you for it. Also congratulations on losing so much weight. I’m glad you could give your good clothes to women who needed them.