Not only did I cave and put my pants back on (from wearing shorts instead of not wearing any pants at all!), but I also turned the heat back on in the house. It's cool outside! The girls are loving this weather!
And the decluttering motivation has hit again! I swear - once you start to see those open spaces and NOTHING to fill them up, well, it's inspiring!
I started by pulling everything from that corner in the office. Yes - another instance of pulling everything out, but will I actually deal with it?
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| The current pile of crap to deal with |
I pushed Miss Murphy's toy box into the corner, which, of course, she had to check out. She still has TWO toy boxes in this room, and I don't think she needs two. We'll deal with that another day.
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| MOM - I haven't smelled this corner in a long time |
Then I could actually open those doors, which I don't think have been open for years! I got rid of the dust and dirt that had collected there, and all is good. I don't like using those doors as there is another door into the office. So they stay shut.
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| The office doors are open! |
One of the things I pulled from the corner was a nice box filled with magazines. I know!!! Didn't Meditations for Mortals tell me that I don't need to read everything that comes into my house? I don't and I shouldn't, but I'm going to struggle with this one, so bear with me.
Then I looked at the shelf beside the computer, which also had a lot of "absolutely MUST read this" reading material. Enough is enough!
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| More reading material |
So, I pulled the reading material from that shelf.
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| Let's deal with this! |
By 9:15 AM, the empty boxes were neatly stored in the garage. Since I plan to use them as donation boxes, I'm OK with this. It's neat and tidy and off the garage floor, all is good.
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| The empty boxes are stored in the garage |
Then the box of magazines was emptied, and the reading material from the shelf was added to it.
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| Some of the reading material |
This is going to be very hard for me to deal with. I know - those of you who just grab and toss are shouting - just throw it! And I will, but I want to go through it first. However, I'll be much faster. I need to learn to let go of this stuff, so I have to do it at my own pace. I need to learn to let go of things like this!
The entire stack is currently still sitting on the office floor, and I doubt I'll finish it today, but I'll try my best to get some of it gone. Maybe I should set a goal of tossing enough so that what's left fits back in the box. Just TEMPORARY!!!
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| More reading material |
The best part of all this is I KNOW BETTER. I know how to deal with it, and I will, but I just need time to get my brain around the fact that I don't need to read or even browse any of this stuff.
Then I rearranged things on that little shelf so the box of paper crap that was in the corner is now on a shelf.
Did you see that there is currently one empty shelf? Yes, I rearranged some things, but I'm OK with that. Sometimes you have to shuffle to make it look neater, and then I can tackle it when I'm ready. I will get it done.
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| Filling up some space - temporarily |
And now the floor where I pulled everything out is clear. Yeah!!! I'm getting so much better at this. One more hurdle to conquer - the magazines and papers. I'm getting there! While we don't want to dwell on the past, one must look at the successes we've had and celebrate them. Learn from them and move on!
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| The clutter for the day is gone |
What I need to decide is how to browse those magazines. I won't, can't, and don't want to read every word, but there's likely some tidbit that interests me. So the trick is to find that happy medium - read the article and toss the magazine. I have a whole stack of magazines to refine my technique!
I went through my university's alumni magazine (Concordia in Montreal). I don't read them - I mostly browse the obituaries and see if anyone from my grade did anything exciting. Never! So why do I keep looking, as I really don't remember anyone much?
But I came across this little gem. It was just a happy reminder of a great time. Instead of writing a thesis at the end of my MBA, Dominique and I organized the Concordia MBA Case Competition. It was, and still is, a huge event, and now schools from around the globe participate. We had to organize the event at a local hotel. Many schools across Canada participated, and we had to find judges, case studies, and arrange food for everyone for two or three days. It was a huge event, but we did a fantastic job, and it was loads of fun, despite the hard work, as we were still finishing our other classes at the same time!
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| Article about the MBA Case Competition |
I think it was shortly after we organized it that a committee took over, or something, although it's still mainly organized by the students. I even remember the black dress I bought ($700 in 1990) to attend and MC the finale! Imagine me in a little black dress! I loved that dress, but it's long gone!
I must see if I can find any pictures of those events!
This was the quote in my tea yesterday! Oh, how true --- I don't really need anything - I'm so happy with my personal growth and comfortable with myself that I need very little, which is why I'm happy with my faded shorts!
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| Quote of the day |
But speaking of acquiring things, what do you think of this?
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| Can you see Murphy and Lexi in there? |
The photo is probably generated by AI, but it's cute. But instead of me pushing them on a bicycle, they should be pulling me while I sit in the buggy!!
I bought a calendar a while back, not for the dates, but for the pictures of great places to hike. This is the Yukon. And this is so true! In 2010, I rode my bicycle up White's Pass in Alaska, and when I got to the top, the view was breathtaking. I'd been through the Rockies many times as a kid, but the top of White's Pass will blow you away. It was worth every pant and puff up the hill. Now this is NOT the view from White's Path, but it's close.
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| The wide open spaces in the Yukon |
And unlike other places, the highways in the Yukon are often located at the top or near the top of the hills, which provide stunning views. I'd go back in a heartbeat!!!!
OK - I've decided to divide and conquer those magazines. I just sorted them out somewhat, and you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens. Maybe nothing? Maybe a lot!!!
Here's the Zoom link for today's virtual retreat.
We start at NOON.
And it's Dad's 92nd birthday today! I will give him a call later this morning. Have a great day, Dad! It's Sunday, so hopefully he'll be home. Any moment, he can be at the Museum WORKING, he's there!
Have a great day!!!
Ciao!!!!
I'm with you on the paper. I stroll through every page rather quickly and stop if a few words or a pic catch my eye.
ReplyDeleteLOVE your progress and open spaces! :-)