Day 7 of Decluttering Challenge

Morning session:

My linen closet is completely cleaned up and decluttered. WOO HOO!!! There are still things in my piles of laundry that will need to be dealt with and that's okay. There is plenty of space available to store what needs to be kept. 

Found another nice surprise while going through one little tub of old linens. I had completely forgotten that my mom had made a set of curtains to go with my quilt. She didn't really know how much "plain" fabric she would need for various parts of it. Also, it was one of her first and she was still working on what would go well together. Anyway, there is this pale moiré print fabric that backs my quilt. She had TONS of it leftover. It got used for a number of things. Heck, I bet there is still some in her fabric tubs. ;-)

I didn't keep them. The color is damaged from the sunlight and I don't think that's something I can get corrected. I wasn’t thinking of using them as curtains but as material in the quilt I am going to make. I think thereis enough of that pattern in the original quilt mom made and in a few other items I have. So I lovingly put them in the recycling bin.

I rewarded myself with some reading time after the morning purge session. I've learned that I don't have to be all business. In fact, I can accomplish more if I take breaks and do things I love. I just have to find balance; it can't be all pleasure. So during the week there is no TV until after my 30 minutes are done. No feelings of guilt today while I enjoy my favorite past time because I already accomplished something. 

Another thing about rewards. I think it's important to celebrate a huge accomplishment. Finishing this challenge certainly falls in that category. As such, I have been thinking about buying all new bath towels when this is over. It might sound contrary to the task at hand; however, I do not own a full set of matching towels. I have one off pieces, all of which are old and some badly stained. I would get rid of those and only purchase what I actually need. Also, they have to be on sale at a good price because I want really nice ones. I'm thinking 3 or 4 bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths should be plenty. The question is whether I will get them in dark purple or plain white. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!

Afternoon/evening session:

Finished the bedroom closet so the bedroom is almost done. Did a number of things in the living room so starting to make progress there. Got rid of a ton of expired medicine that's not even accounted for in the totals. Same goes with lotions and other toiletries that have been hanging on for far too long. 

I'll be taking another trip to Goodwill tomorrow. Two more bags and two more boxes.  I still think I have kept more than I should; however, I am okay with thinking of this as a first pass. I think once I have laid hands on everything and gotten all like objects together, I can make a more accurate assessment and determine limits.  There is still plenty more to do but I can see more floor, counter and shelf space than I have in a very long time. 

I am awed by how much I have gotten done in one week. Amazing!!!

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	50	222
TRASHED:	10	63
TOTAL:	60	285

Day 6 of Decluttering Challenge

My accountability partner asked why no music while I declutter. For me this journey is about mindfulness. I need to be aware of the thoughts and feelings I'm having. For me, background noise would drown them out.

Sometimes it is very clear when an item needs to go. Obviously things that are broken, stained, ripped, worn, etc. should go. I really shouldn't have used "obviously" because to an artist/crafter, ain't nothing obvious about it. "I can use this broken piece, this loan earring or the material on this shirt that is not stained in a project." GUILTY! I am trying to set strict rules, limits and guidelines in place for those thoughts so I am not overrun with boxes of crap. Being mindful helps with this because I clearly remember what I have already kept and I can hear the dialogue running in my head about the item.

For instance, the other day I learned a very important lesson I would have missed if I was grooving to music. I was doing a quick sort so I could fill one of the bags I was taking to Goodwill. I was going through a bon of clothes I hadn't looked at in four years. The clothes themselves haven't been worn for longer than that because of my weight gain. I picked one up and heard "I love this shirt!" I picked up another and heard "I loved this shirt." I assure you I would have missed that subtle difference had I been belting out the latest Taylor Swift song. (OMG! So far every song off her latest album is amazing!!! "Wildest Dreams" has definitely taken up permanent residence in my head.) 

So things I actively love stay, things I loved when I bought them get released. It's okay that your tastes change. It's okay to get rid of something you bought and never used. (Yes, I am thinking of you, Hershey's cookie press.) Instead of beating myself up, I am trying to focus on the positive and have gratitude for the lesson that cookie press is teaching me. 

1. Impulse buys are usually a bad idea.

2. Buying something because you like who you would be if you used it regularly isn't a good idea. (Read about future clutter here.)

3. If you can only use it for one specific task, do you really need it? 

4. How many times a week, month or year do you see yourself actually using the item? If the answer is once per year and it's not a holiday item, do you really need it? 

Of course I have kept some items that meet all of the criteria above. The cookie press screamed stupid at me every time I saw it. It needs to get the heck out of my life! I don't keep people around that do that, so I am not going to let a $20 item linger anymore either. My shaved ice machine that lovingly beckons to me is much harder to part with. It's been well loved and used throughout it's tenure here. It makes me think of summer and happiness or margaritas with friends whenever I see it. I think I want to release it because I think my Nutribullet stole its place in my life. Do I really need both? 

Again, these are all things I might miss if I was playing music or watching TV. Okay, the cookie press was really loud and the "someday" I bought it for hadn't materialized in the years since I got it, so that one I wouldn't have missed. But you get the idea. 

I was SUPER tired tonight. I really wanted to give myself the night off. I could have done it and not felt too bad since I have spent more than the required 15 minutes everyday. The problem is, with me, one night could very easily lead to an entire year off. (Hello, past 4 years.) In addition to mindfulness, I am trying to teach myself routine and discipline. And 30 minutes  (15 cleaning, 15 decluttering) is not that much time. So today I just did the minimum. I spent the entire time in the kitchen. I cleared several cabinets and shelves. I created space where I will be able to store some of my Girl Scout stuff out of sight. (Super excited about that!)

And the damn cookie press is in a box that will be given to Goodwill this weekend. 

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	14	172
TRASHED:	2	53
TOTAL:	16	225

Day 5 of Decluttering Challenge

Now that I’ve scaled my expectations of myself down, I’m feeling a little less overwhelmed.  It’s quite revealing how I said just 15 minutes each day was okay but I really didn’t believe it was enough.  Having unrealistic expectations of myself is a major theme in my life.  Definitely something that needs more work but we’ll save that for another day. 

Truth be told, I have still done more than 15 minutes these past few days; however, I don’t expect to do several hours or full evenings on weekdays.  It’s just unrealistic and adds to the panic.  This mess was not created overnight; it was at least 4 years in the making, if not longer, and is not going to be solved overnight either.  Hopefully, we have that issue settled so I can move onto other issues!

I got home rather late tonight so time was super short.  I spent 20 minutes cleaning in the kitchen.  I am so excited!!!  I’m still going to have to spend at least 2-3 more 15 minute sessions in there but then it is going to be clean!!!  A few things you need to know about me:

• I HATE to clean.  (I am highly suspicious of anyone who says they LIKE to clean because that is just completely unfathomable to me.)

• I am capable of ignoring dirt, mess and clutter to a very scary degree.  (Think pig pen from The Peanuts comics.)  That’s how things have gotten so bad.  It’s embarrassing and shameful.  It’s a truth I find so ugly that I can’t even bring myself to take pictures of the mess to share with you or just keep privately.  In the end it’s a good thing there won’t be pictorial evidence because I would use the pictures to punish myself daily after all the mess is clean.  Yep, that’s another very telling thing about me.

• I think it’s a waste of time to make the bed because you are just going to sleep in it again so what’s the point?  That philosophy extends to pans I use every day in the kitchen.  They live on top of the stove.

Given those three bullet points, you will join me in my excitement when I say that I put the cookie sheets away (after cleaning them, of course!).  At first, I didn’t even know what to do with them because they live on the stove but then I opened a cupboard and discovered that they lived in there with the muffin tins and such.  That meant that for the first time in YEARS (I am not kidding!) my stovetop was completely clutter free.  I cleaned that sucker and, while it still needs a bit more elbow grease and I need to deal with the disgusting burner pans, it looks awesome!!!  The counters are clear of items that do not belong and only contain what lives on them full time.  I still have some more dirty dishes to contend with but they are contained within the sink.  The floor is the thing I have been putting off the most.  The main area is fine but the perimeter is DISGUSTING.  I am swearing right now that it will be dealt with this weekend.  My other pledge is that I will keep the cleanliness up.  I will not let the kitchen get as bad as it was ever again.  Not only is it the right thing to do and I’ll be able to invite people over and not need a month’s advance notice but I think it will help me make healthy food choices.  Coming home to cook dinner won’t be such a chore if the dishes you need to use are already clean.  So yay to making myself clean for 15 minutes every day!  It will only have taken one full week to have gotten the kitchen completely under control.  I will still need to go through every cabinet, cupboard and drawer to decide what really needs to stay and what can be released but now that the mess is out of the way, I can actually do that.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent my decluttering time dealing with a box of jumbled up jewelry.  All the earrings are paired together.  The bracelets and necklaces are untangled and hanging up now.  My holiday accessories are back to being separate from my every day pieces.  I’ll be honest; I did not get rid of anything.  I know I have more jewelry than any one person should but I don’t care.  They are pieces of wearable art to me.  Yes, I kept pieces I know I will NEVER wear again.  I kept pieces I only wear once a year.  I kept pieces I don’t necessarily love but that someone I love gave or made for me and that makes the piece beautiful to me.  And the real kicker, I am not done with jewelry yet.  I have at least three more containers to go through, one of which I believe I will be able to release a lot from.  That’s not even bringing in all my jewelry making supplies.  Will I need to define some limits?  Yes.  Do I know what those are yet?  Clearly the answer is no.  I have complete confidence that the answer will come.  In the meantime, I do have a plan.

A few years ago on Pinterest, I found some really cool jewelry displays using picture frames.  I already have one picture frame with plastic mesh that I use for earrings.  I made it about 10 years ago.  It works but the new ideas will work better, I even have all the supplies to make them, I just never did it.  Now that I have more energy, determination and an accountability plan, I will get the jewelry displays made.  One wall in my bedroom will be designated as a jewelry art wall.  Some will be functional, where you can actually take the jewelry on and off easily, and some will simply be art pieces.  For instance, I have a piece that I am going to call “lost” and it will just consist of earrings where I’ve lost the other one.  There is probably a tiny bit of self-punishment buried somewhere in this art piece but I am only keeping earrings I truly love so it really is more about not being able to part with things that still spark joy. 

I think I am going to have more trouble holding myself to a reasonable timeline for getting the displays and art pieces done.  They’ve been floating around in my head and all the stuff to make them taking space in my apartment for far too long.  I need to set a deadline and schedule time to sit down and make them.  While I want to say that these are things that need to be done before I move in August, I’m not sure that is a reasonable expectation given all the decluttering I need to do and other projects that really must be done before I move.  There are some things I simply refuse to move into my new place so there are other projects that have priority over my jewelry projects.  That said, I think it is completely reasonable to say that if I haven’t made the displays and art pieces within one year of moving (August 2017), they are never going to get made. 

Three last items before I stop rambling tonight:

• 4 of the donated items in today’s release numbers are never been used journals that were given new homes to some dear friends.  I have collected entirely too many over the years.  Some have been written in for a while then abandoned.  Instead of picking up where I left off, I just bought new ones.  I have now gone through them all twice and I am still having trouble parting with all of them.  Oy vey!

•  I only climbed 7.5 flights of stairs today.  My body is feeling the extra strain so I’m giving it a break.  I did do some walking.  I didn’t quite hit my 8,500 step goal but my FitBit tells me I walked a collective 3 miles.  Amazing how far I have come in the past year!!!

• Go see the movie SUFFRAGETTE.  This has absolutely nothing to do with decluttering, organizing or downsizing.  It is the reason I got home late tonight.  I am telling you, every women needs to see this movie.  It’s based on the true stories of how the British women fought to get the vote.  It’s important because it shows how far women have come in 100 years and makes you really think about just how much farther we need to go before we truly are equal.  It’s important because there are places in the world that still look just like England did in 1913.  Seriously!  Think about those countries where education for females is not a given.  There are still places in the world where women are still seen as property and they do not have the same rights over their lives as men.  Hell, here in the United States women do not have the same rights over their lives as men.  I don’t see the government passing laws about what contraceptive practices men can and can’t use.  I don’t see the government passing laws telling them they need to have invasive medical procedures before they can make a decision about their life.  I don’t give a rat’s ass that most of these laws involve pregnancy and men don’t get pregnant.  All the more reason MEN shouldn’t be allowed to pass and create laws that govern women’s bodies.  I’ll stop now because I could rant on this topic for HOURS and I need to get some sleep. My point is simply that every woman should see this movie and it should be shown in every classroom around the world.  I also highly recommend listening to this panel interview with the director, writer and twoactresses.  It’s informative, entertaining and sobering.  We’ve still got a lot of work to do, ladies and gentleman.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	5	158
TRASHED:	0	51
TOTAL:	5	209

Day 4 of Decluttering Challenge

I woke up and started to feel overwhelmed again. I shut it down immediately. All I have to do this moment is get ready for work and leave the house. I do not need to think about or deal with the mess until later. I think it is time to decide on my positive nightly affirmation. Supposedly writing it out 10 times before I sleep for two weeks helps change the tape that runs in your mind. I also need a bite-sized plan for days the overwhelm hits.  I also think it's important for me to remember that using my time to triage is okay.  I don't have to make all the decisions and get rid of everything RIGHT NOW.  It's all a process.  The clutter and mess didn't accumulate in one day or week, so it's going to take a while to get rid of it, especially when it's not just about the stuff.  This process is equally about my mind and feelings.  It's about deciding what's really important and where I want to be a year from now, five years from now.

So today I just tried to be gentle with myself.  I only climbed 13.25 flights of stairs; however, I also walked 2.75 miles with my accountability partner (walking therapy!).  I took the two bags and two boxes to Goodwill then ran through a drive through to pick-up dinner.  I did 20 minutes of cleaning and about 45 minutes of decluttering.  

I did not write out an affirmation but I think I finally formed one as I was falling asleep.  If it sticks, I'll reveal it in tomorrow's post.  As for the bite-sized plan, I have a started a list of things I know I want to get done and can use those for days when I look around and instead of being inspired to declutter, I just want to crawl into bed.  I'll throw that list in a post sometime too.  For now, I'm just so tired that I'm going to sleep.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	35	153
TRASHED:	6	51
TOTAL:	41 ITEMS	204 ITEMS

Day 3 of Decluttering Challenge

I'm exhausted.  I have been going full-steam ahead for about five days now and I am seriously, bone-weary tired.  I want nothing more than to just stop, climb in bed and read until I fall asleep.  I'm looking around and it's just all too much.  Yes, I'm clearing out and cleaning up but then I have to take out the garbage and get the donation piles out of the house.  It just doesn't stop and there's always something that needs to be done.  I'm feeling overwhelmed again.

I look around and realize I need the two boxes and two giant garbage bags full of donations out of the house now so I loaded them up in my car to be taken to Goodwill tomorrow.  I came back in and grabbed the first thing that caught my attention - more stupid bags.  There is no end to my stockpile and I know I will continue to unearth more.  I'm tired of all the decision making and confronting my stuff.  While the last few days, I have been feeling proud of my accomplishments and liberated by the releases I've made, today I feel shame.  I'm ashamed that I live in such clutter and mess.  I'm ashamed that I have accumulated so much stuff.  I'm ashamed by the consumerism and waste.  It's disgustingly excessive, just like the flab on my body.

I have a choice to make.  I can give into the dark feelings, let them drag me down into the mire.  I can choose to drown them with food or avoid them while I bury my nose in a book/tv show/internet surfing.  It would be so easy to let the feelings take over like have too many times before.  I look around and this time, instead of giving in to the despair, I keep going.  I pick-up the purse and take it to the drawer that's almost completely full of bags I've chosen to keep already and I place it inside.  As I walk back down the hall, I decide to just tackle whatever I see that annoys me.  This is clearly not the same focused approach I had been following the past few days and that's okay.  I don't feel the same way tonight and I need to honor that while still getting something done.  I also didn't follow the one touch rule tonight; instead, I worked on gathering some like things together in boxes.  These boxes of things will have to be gone through eventually but I am not in a decision making mood tonight so this is the best I can do.  My release total may be low for the day but I still made progress.  I emptied some small shoebox size bins, consolidated some art supplies and got rid of some junk.

I definitely paused to acknowledge the things I was feeling.  I think that's an important part of the work I am doing.  So much so that I am not using the TV or music while I work.  That's right, I've been spending all this time going through my belongings and cleaning up the mess with only my own thoughts for company.  That was a purposeful decision on my part as I think mindfulness, being present, maintaining focus and really thinking about my life as it is and how I want it to be is a vital key to making this project a success.  If I don't deal with the feelings, I will end up right back in this same place and I don't ever want to be here again.  So I keep going because I can't get out of the mess I am in if I stop and wallow in the feelings.  I've been indulging my feelings for years and years and all it's gotten me is fat, unhappy and drowning in stuff.  So I can't afford not to keep going.  Besides, I am really only obligated to spend 15 minutes per day decluttering. That's such a ridiculously small  amount of time that I have to do it.  I would feel like a complete loser if I didn't do at least that much and the time for self-punishment is over, so I just do it.  (There's that Nike motto again!)

Did I get as much done tonight as I have the past few days?  No.  Did I work on the zone I had planned to?  No.  Did I get something done?  Yes.  Did I get more than the minimum 15 minutes?  Yes.  I also got 20 minutes of cleaning done and made dinner for the 4th day in a row.  All of that was after attending a 2-hour PFLAG meeting tonight.  I also walked two miles and climbed 18.25 flights of stairs today.

So today's lesson is about feeling like you want to quit and give up while continuing to move forward anyway.  As Dr. Phil is fond of saying, "If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you always got."  Well, I want something more and better so that's just not even an option.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	10	118
TRASHED:	4	45
TOTAL:	14	163

Day 2 of Decluttering Challenge

Spent about an hour on decluttering tonight. Still working in the bedroom. Emptied another storage bin, this one full of bags/purses. I understand why Marie Kondo advocates working on categories versus rooms or areas. Bringing all the items together allows you to see the volume, duplicates, etc. One of the problems for people like me is that my crap is EVERYWHERE and it takes too much time to gather from all the different locations. As I am typing, I just remembered two more places I have bags in addition to the other four I was aware of (bags and jewelry are my thing).

As I excavate, I will keep her suggestion in mind and work toward getting what I keep in one place. Lord knows this is just the first of many passes.

The good news is I released a number of the bags that I had been hanging onto for years. I hope they will bring joy to their new owners, especially my Scooby-Doo bag. 

I also went through all the pockets of my over the door organizer. Holy crap! It's just a junk organizer. I got rid of over half the crap it was holding. I am totally embarrassed to say that there were 5 pairs of broken sunglasses, 3 unused repair kits and 5 eyeglass cases hanging out in there. Kept my soft Winnie-the-Pooh case because it will make a great little first aid kit holder. Also kept my super nice safety glasses and case from when I worked at United. I can recycle/donate my cheap safety glasses when I unearth them in the craft room. 

By the way, I have 5 different things I committed to doing daily right now:
1. Decluttering for 15 minutes everyday.
2. Cleaning for 15 minutes per day.
3. Climbing stairs for the Climb IU Challenge.
4. Saying a daily affirmation.
5. Writing/chronicling my progress.

Today was the first day of #ClimbIU and I did 19 flights of stairs. This time last year I couldn't even climb one!!!  I am kicking ass at decluttering and chronicling. So far all the cleaning time has been spent in the kitchen. I am making progress and should have it clean by the time I get around to decluttering that space.

The affirmation is the only one giving me a bit of trouble. I am supposed to write it out 10 times every night before I go to bed. First, I haven't been able to narrow down my affirmation. Second, I found I like wrapping up my day in my blog post. So I may have to tweak that one to just saying a daily affirmation, which I've done. Going to bed a very happy camper for the third night in a row. The focus is keeping me out of my head and my emotions in check. That’s not to say I am not letting myself feel.  On the contrary, tonight's grief counseling session was very emotional. I am just not letting my emotions run amok. Having emotions is okay, letting them rule the day or govern all my choices is not.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	31	108
TRASHED:	10	41
TOTAL:	41 ITEMS	149 ITEMS	(in 3 days!)

Day 1 of Decluttering Challenge

Today is the first official day of my 31 days of decluttering challenge.  Since I already started working in my bedroom yesterday, I decided to continue there.  Just like yesterday, I ended up doing way more than the original 15 minutes.  I even did a morning and afternoon session.  The afternoon session focused on jewelry.  I have so much jewelry and jewelry making stuff that I’m not going to go any further on the topic right now.  Let’s just say that all the time today was spent simply gathering it all up from the various nooks and crannies my jewelry migrates to, which is pretty much everywhere.  I definitely need to make a more coherent plan before I tackle the jewelry clutter.

For the morning session, I started with 4 storage bins of varying sizes that line the floor of my closet.  I didn’t end up getting rid of much compared to what was kept; however, there’s a really good reason.  One bin was filled with some of my all-time favorite sweaters.  Unfortunately, I had stopped wearing all of them because I had gained more weight and couldn't fit in to them anymore.  Now that I’ve lost 60 pounds, I can fit into some of them again and the others I kept I will fit into soon.  YAY!!! 

I know the experts say not to keep anything you can’t immediately wear; however, given my continued weight loss I’m not going to follow that rule right now.  I’ve held on to these clothes this long, it seems kind of stupid and fiscally irresponsible to ditch them now.  I am releasing anything that I don’t absolutely love or that doesn’t fit my current style (whatever that is!).  I’m thrilled to be wearing some of my favorite clothes again!!!

I kept some clothing items I probably shouldn’t have because they need repairs and I haven’t made a point of fixing them all this time.  I also couldn’t wear them so there was no motivation.  I dedicated one of the bins to repairs and plan to limit what’s kept to this one bin.  I also pledge that anything in the bin that is not repaired by the time I move in August will be pitched then.

Before I get to this next part, I need to fill in a little bit of backstory on my current living space.  In July 2011, I went from a spacious two-bedroom apartment to a cramped two-bedroom apartment.  The move was not my choice and I went from a place that I absolutely adored to one that I don’t really like.  I never intended to stay in this apartment as long as I have but the sheer amount of stuff I have has kept me rooted in place.  I made some promises to myself that I would go through everything and get rid of stuff before I moved again.  I’ve made a couple of attempts and got rid of some stuff here and there but not enough to make the thought of moving sound feasible.  Since I haven’t made good on my pledge, I haven’t moved so 4 years later I am still living in a place I hate as punishment.  I am determined to move when my lease is up this coming August so I can finally pick a living space I like and not just one that was convenient in a pinch, just another one of the many reasons for doing this challenge.

Why is all that important?  You need to know that I have boxes and storage bins EVERYWHERE.  I’m not kidding.  They line the closets and walls.  There are stacks of them in every room except the bathroom and kitchen.  There is so much it is easy to lose things or not remember where things are.  I finally unearthed a few things I’d realized I’d been missing since I moved a while ago, but there are still some big ticket items I haven’t been able to find.  After today’s discovery, I’m hoping I will find them all as I continue the excavation process.

Hiding out in one of the bins buried in my closet was a treasure that I thought was lost forever.  I can’t tell you how relieved and happy I am to have found this item.  You see, it’s the quilt my mother made me.  I picked out all the material and the pattern then she put it together with love.  It had started fraying on the folded over edges so I had taken it with me on one of my trips to California so she could repair it.  Unfortunately, I didn’t purchase enough binding tape and we couldn’t find the right color out there.  I brought it back home with me and purchased more of the right color binding tape but I don’t know how to sew.  In the move, I put the quilt and binding tape in a gorgeous velvet pillow sham and placed it in this bin.  Time passed, I forgot what I’d done with the quilt and never looked hard enough in the bin.  I would have missed it again if I hadn’t taken a second look at the sham.  When I picked it up to put it back in the bin, I realized that it wasn’t stuffed with a pillow so I turned it over.  Through a gap in the buttons I saw a flower pattern and my heartbeat accelerated.  You see, I’d already told my mother a while back that I couldn’t find my quilt.  I was so disappointed in myself that I had lost track of something so precious to me.  Since she died two months ago, I was even more upset with myself since she’d never be able to make me another one.  When I unbuttoned the sham to reveal the quilt my mother made me, I started weeping tears of joy, gratitude, happiness and love.  It was one of the first quilts my mom made and, of course, I picked an unusual pattern so it wasn’t the easiest to make either.  It’s not perfect and definitely shows signs of wear and use.  Still, I love it just as much as I always have…possibly even more now.  The sheer joy in finding it is enough to make my month.  I just wanted to wrap myself up in it and never move.  I held it, smelled it, caressed it, wept into it, completely unfolded it and then re-folded it again.  Part of the point of this challenge is to stay focused and not indulge in depressive emotions and thoughts.  That’s not to say I am stuffing down my feelings and not mourning my mom because when I need to cry, I cry.  Given all the discussions she and I had about feeling crushed under the weight of the sheer volume of stuff that surrounded each of us, I know moving forward is honoring her more than crawling under the quilt and never surfacing would.  Besides, it still needs some TLC and I want to do some research on how to preserve it since it now holds even more significance to me.  I have what I need to fix it and will enlist the help of an expert to get it repaired as soon as possible.  I don’t think I will use it on my bed the way I have in the past because I don’t want it to get damaged.  However, if I can safely hang it on the wall, I plan to hang it in my bedroom.  Not sure if I will hang it up in my current bedroom since I plan on moving in less than a year.  Then again, I’ve missed it so much and it’s a beautiful reminder of my mom that I may just do it.

Today’s lesson was that when you have too much stuff, you can’t keep track of prized possessions.  My mom’s quilt will be a constant reminder not to accumulate more stuff than I need or have space for moving forward.

TODAY                                                  OVERALL

ITEMS DONATED:                       23                                                           77

ITEMS TRASHED:                       17                                                            31

RELEASE TOTAL:                  40 ITEMS                                            108 ITEMS (in 2 days!)