My Life In Three Parts

If you read these pages with any regularity, you know that I’m in the process of going through all my crap, downsizing, getting rid of stuff and reevaluating where I want my life to go. It’s been interesting seeing how far I’ve come in some areas and how far I haven’t come in others.

Since I rarely throw anything out (until recently), I’ve come across lists of New Year’s Resolutions or Goals & Achievements going back decades. Sadly, there is a sameness to them.

Some of these have dated back to the seventies. There are three major themes running through these rather sad lists and with them, I can boil my need to improve life into three major categories: my health (weight), my finances and my clutter. Everything I feel I need to change or improve in my life falls under one of these three categories.

I could probably pare these down even more, since these all seem to be connected. But then everything in life is connected, isn’t it?

For example, I like to eat out and do it way more than I should for both my pocketbook and my waistline. One of the main reasons eating out is so desirous is that it’s too hard to fix something myself, because my kitchen is almost always a mess. My lack of housekeeping skills falls under “clutter” because I don’t know what I have, I have no clear counter space to prep food and I don’t know where things go, hence the crowded counters.

I buy things I don’t need, in and out of the kitchen, because I can’t find what I already have. I end up sitting and watching TV and snacking while I do it because I don’t have the cleared up space to work on art or craft projects. I have too many scrapbooking supplies to actually do any scrapbooking.

So what am I doing about it?

Slowly but steadily I am going through stuff, getting rid of stuff, and finding homes for stuff.

I’m making an effort to finish what I start, be it dishes and laundry or that hooked rug I started decades ago.

I’m getting off the couch more often, resulting in more exercise and less mess.

I’m really trying to be aware of what I’m doing, so less mindless eating, less binge buying, more seeing what’s around me.

Most importantly, I remind myself that this is a process and a journey. It took me 65 years to become this person, and most of her is pretty awesome. I’m working on the not-so-awesome stuff, three categories at a time.

It’s Not a Sign of Sloth…Is It?

We all know that I fight clutter. Chaos is my natural state. But I fight it. Constantly. And most of us know that I hate to clean. Housework, to me, is worse than a root canal. As a result, between my clutter and uncluttering, and lack of cleaning, my place is a mess.

One of my goals in life is to be able to socialize at home. You know, to invite people over and have a conversation or activities in my house. Maybe host the writing group or book club. I’ve never done that because the place is always a disaster.

As much as I try, I’m a mess. And so is my house. It is a source of constant embarrassment. Although I’ve stopped buying stuff for the most part and have definitely stopped buying stuff for my stuff, I still haven’t gotten a handle on things. Until recently.

Recently (last month), I hired a house cleaning service. It has taken me a long time to conclude that it’s okay to do this. I keep hearing my mother and her cronies tsking about being too lazy to do my own cleaning. But so what? I am lazy when it comes to housekeeping. I hate it and, as a consequence, I’m no good at it.

So once a month, now, a crew of two comes in, spends less than 3 hours here and my house is clean.

Funny thing, once the house is clean, I suddenly don’t have a problem picking up after myself. Things get put away once I’m done using them. Trash and recycle get taken out before they’re overflowing. And–this was a real eye opener–it’s suddenly easier to make decisions. I schedule appointments for things I’ve been putting off. I’m buying things I’ve thought about and then tossing the catalog, or more often, just tossing the catalog.

I’m not just thinking about doing things. I’m doing things.

Who knew? Well, my non-messy friends did, but I didn’t believe them. Now I do.

(For readers in the Denver area, check out athomecleaning.co or contact them at info@athomecleaning.co. You won’t be sorry.)