It happened so gradually, so subtly. It crept up on us like a quiet ninja. It grew silently like moss on a stump. And then one day, quite unexpectedly, I tripped over something just trying to get from one end of the room to the other. And just like that, the scales fell from our eyes. My husband and I looked around us. We were shocked. We were confused. We. Were. Terrified. We had somehow found ourselves surrounded by piles and piles and piles... of crap. Junk. Sheer and utter clutter. How it had accumulated so significantly right under our very noses will remain a mystery to us. All we knew in that moment, was that we had to act. We had to take drastic measures before we, too, became buried and lost in a sea of clutter.
So starting this past weekend, we have been working our way through the apartment. Our goal: get rid of as much stuff as possible, and properly organize what remains. It was overwhelming at first. I think anytime you start a project as huge as "de-cluttering your home," it can be daunting. Where to begin? How to begin? Will this project ever end? Will it ever start?! To answer these pressing questions, I fell back onto the wisdom, the genius, the HORSE-SENSE of a brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin, who taught us the best way to tackle a giant problem... is to take baby steps.
So that's what we've been doing. One small project at a time. So far, we have taken four bags of clothing to Goodwill, one huge box of books to Half-Price Books, one large box of DVDs and CDs to a secondhand movie store, and about six full garbage bags to the dumpster.
It feels so, so good to be simplifying our lives and organizing our living space. My goal is to never let it get that bad again! How's your living space looking these days? Could you use a day or two to de-clutter and organize your place? If so, go for it! You will feel so much better. One thing I can say is that messes do not get better on their own - only worse.
Lastly, I'm curious, is anybody out there any good at maintaining a simple, organized, clutter-free home? How do you do it? Any practical advice to keeping up with it?
