Day 19 of Decluttering Challenge

Hung out with work colleagues today at our monthly mixer for the LGBT Faculty-Staff Council (FSC).  Then went to a fundraiser for the local Pride Band.  It was fun but another late night.  Also another night where I spent too much time on social media.  There is a direct correlation to how drained and angry I feel after and the amount of soul sucking time spent on social media, especially right now.

Straightened up a bit and made some plans but did not get any major done.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	0	480
TRASHED:	0	115
TOTAL:	0	595

Day 18 of Decluttering Challenge

Barely made it through the day today.  I was up most of the night with severe stomach pain.  Worst flair up of my lactose intolerance in years, if not decades.  Barely made it into work and then I left early because today was the Hunger Games double-feature and we'd had our tickets forever.

Thought I was going to die during the first movie because the pain and nausea came back.  Still, I was able to climb stairs in between movies so I can maybe reach my goal for the stair climbing challenge at work.

I took the night off from the decluttering challenge.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	0	480
TRASHED:	0	115
TOTAL:	0	595

Day 17 of Decluttering Challenge

Dropped off 3 boxes and 2 bags full of donations on my way home from work tonight. Pretty much ready to fill the car again!!!

Did another pass through the clothes hanging in the closet the other day. Tonight I bagged them all up and put the hangers away. 

Went through the last two boxes that have been stacked at the end of the futon since I brought them back from California during my cross-country drive. Kept most of the contents since they were all ceramics my mom made for me. Definitely incentive to get some display space cleared.

In trying to focus on the positive, here's a list of chores I've been keeping up with:

• All clean clothes are folded in the armoire or hanging in the closet.
• All dirty clothes are in the hamper and not in a pile on the floor.
• All trash and recycling are in the proper containers ready to be taken out when full.
• All dirty dishes are in the kitchen.
• All jewelry is in proper containers not left all over the place.
• All clean zones (except kitchen counters but including stove) have remained clean and clutter free.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	36	480
TRASHED:	0	115
TOTAL:	36	595

Day 16 of Decluttering Challenge

Woke up with a headache.  Took meds, called in sick and went back to bed. Woke up again with the headache gone but replaced with GI and bowel issues. More meds and sleep. Got up, put recycling in car and went to grief counseling. Cried a lot. Reassured that I am doing well given everything I am going through/dealing with. Need to be gentler with myself and continue making progress where I can, when I can.

Dropped off 2 containers of recycling. Quick trip to store. Put the latest round of donations in my car. Continued working my way through the boxes I brought home from California after my cross-country trip. A lot of awesome stuff I hadn't seen in years. Kept all the ceramics for now. It's all either stuff my mom made or that I made. Definitely some pieces that I will photograph and release to others at some point.

Scanned all the books from yesterday that I set aside to donate into Goodreads. Separated out the theater books so I can donate them to the U of Indy Theatre Department. The day definitely ended better than it began.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	42	444
TRASHED:	0	115
TOTAL:	42	559

Day 15 of Decluttering Challenge

I decided today that mindfulness has its place and right now its place is not with me. You see, I just need to get something done. It doesn’t have to be right or perfect. It doesn't matter if I have to do it all again next month or the next because I didn't get rid of enough on the first pass. The only thing that matters right now is that progress is made. What matters is that the piles of crap everywhere continue to diminish. What matters is that the clutter and collective noise around me decreases so that life and my emotions feel manageable again.

If the only way to accomplish that is by turning on some loud, fun music then so be it. Of course, I would prefer to sort out my emotions and thoughts while doing it so I can figure out what kind of life I want to create. But right now that's too much so I will take it anyway I can get it. I'll tackle the thinking and processing some other day when I can handle it. For now I will dance and sing my blues away as I give useless junk the heave ho.

All the boxes on one side of the futon have been gone through. Put a lot of books in the release pile.

After church, went to a friend's house. Got two loads of laundry done while we played three games of Scrabble (I won two games!).

Not as productive as last weekend and I still have not tackled the two icky jobs I have been putting off. However, progress was made and I am moving forward again. Definitely good!

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	55	402
TRASHED:	7	115
TOTAL:	62	517

Day 14 of Decluttering Challenge

I fell in to the mindless void again today. I am overwhelmed by the horrible atrocities being done all over the world. It's too much so I checked out again, retreated into my happy place because I can't really handle anything else at the moment.

Later, because Saturdays are really long, I decided I could go through the box sitting next to my chair. That led to going through three more boxes.

One box was jammed full so I didn't count every single thing. I counted it as 50 items (40 donated ; 10 trashed), which is low-balling it, and moved on.

Another box contained smaller boxes inside of it. After going through several, I opened another to find more containers inside it. I  literally said out loud, "What fresh hell is this?" and closed it back it back up.

After a couple of deep breaths and encouraging thoughts, I opened it back up and dug in. I picked up a coin pursue and dumped out its contents. Out spills just about every I have ever owned in my life and a few other things. In my defense, I have been collecting them to use in an art piece. I have to learn how to use a soldering iron before I can make it though. Anyway, I have this fireproof box that I brought back from California last summer but had no clue where the keys are to it. As I moved it aside yesterday to access the box I was working on, I wondered how to break into it. Once I saw the keys I thought, "What are the chances the key to opening it is in this pile?" Given my luck, I figured I would try every key and still be screwed. Boy was I wrong!!! First damn key I tried opened that sucker right up!!!

I didn't know what I would find inside. Turns out there were pictures. Lots and lots of them. I think they are all back up copies but I am not sure. Will stick them in a photo box to deal with later. Good work!

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	65	347
TRASHED:	15	108
TOTAL:	80	455

Day 13 of Decluttering Challenge

I would like to tell you I accomplished something tonight but I didn't. I did read a bunch of articles about the power of positive thinking and simplifying life in between wasting time playing on the computer.

	TODAY	OVERALL
DONATED:	0	268
TRASHED:	0	93
TOTAL:	0	375