So, lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about our homestead. The desire to make serious progress is there, what I have is a lack of direction. When I do not have a direction for anything I want to accomplish I get totally stuck. *SO* frustrating. Another thing that complicates this is that I find myself not only being relentlessly distracted, other folks in my home seem to think they need to provide me with things to do.
As I write this I realize that the first thing that *must* happen is decluttering!
By decluttering my life I will eliminate the need to clean, pick up, organize, put away, trash, wash, etc all these things around me. I have seen various social media outlets talking about simplifying, downsizing, and all, and I have cleared out quite a bit of stuff since we are still planning to move, but now I am thinking bigger scale.
What does this mean? I am a sentimental fool. I keep everything, not like a hoarder, but I do keep lots of little momentos. For instance, growing up I would wonder about what I learned in first grade or what my penmanship was like. How I did on some random spelling test. Mom didn’t keep those things. Now as a mom, I have kept nearly every paper my kids brought home from school: artwork, projects, dang near everything. Each year they get a new backpack and the previous years backpack is filled with all their papers. We have a *LOT* of backpacks… When Honey and I were dating I was travelling cross country for my job and he was able to come with me. We’d see baseball games, have dinner, go to museums…every ticket stub, program, receipt – Yep, I’ve got ’em! The intent was to scrapbook them. 🙂 Unfortunately, that is still my intent, as in, it hasn’t happened yet. There always seems to be something else to do. sigh…
TIME TO DECLUTTER!
We have no plans this weekend, but to prepare the house for winter (put patio stuff away into the shed, rake, bring brush to the recycling center…). Honey just got the motorhome winterized today. I’m going to hide inside and organize! Make a giant donation pile and get it to our local homeless/near homeless faith-based non-for-profit pantry. What’s going? Anything that does not fit our current decorating style, we love rustic! If it can be used for our homestead, it can stay, but it must be useful. Another credential, it must be used!!! Beyond those requirements: if it’s for my craft room, it can stay. 😉 I have already begun regretting some craft things I have parted with…like my large bin of yarn. Of course I find several really cute ideas using yarn AFTER it’s gone. drat.
I hesitate to take before pictures…at least of my basement…out of pure embarrassment. However, I will take them. Whether I actually share them likely depends on how drastic an improvement there is. Why? Because most of the stuff there is quasi-packed and ready to move. Months ago. Now there is random clutter on top of the boxes, some of the boxes are topless (no flaps or separate top to close them – totally messy looking), bunches of empty boxes, toys galore. It’s hideous!
I imagine while cleaning I will be considering my next post, in fact, it’s certain. It will be about our next steps toward self-sufficient homesteading. Making a list to determine what we need, how to make it, what would be most beneficial to do first.
If you don’t hear from me in the next week, tell my family to look for me in the playroom!
