July Clutter

• It's been an epic effort to get this month's de-cluttering done. I've just managed to get July's list completed by the end of August! I was sooo not in the mood this last month. I've lost the urge and momentum to do anymore de cluttering for the time being. I'm looking at moving in October so I might do a supplemental September edition once I actually start boxing up stuff. I'm very glad I have done this though, as it's made me assess everything I have and it's useability and suitability. It's also made me master of my environment instead of my environment taking over and running rampart, which to a small extent it had been doing.
• Books I'm reading: 'Something So Strong – the Crowded House Story' Chris Bourke, (still), Niche and Grow Rich' Jennifer Sander, 'The Year of Yes' Maria Headley, 'It's Vintage Darling' Christina Weil, 'What Your Clothes say about you' Trinny & Susannah, 'The Survival Guide' Trinny & Susannah, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' JK Rowling, 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' J.K. Rowling.
  

1st – Old seeds that probably wont germinate anyway

2nd – Old (70's/60's) knitting and crocheting patterns (donated)

3rd – Old daggy falling apart sunglasses

4th – Uni student card and copier card – last vestige of my uni degree.

5th – two daggy skirts that I lived in last summer and I suppose they're still good but they're soooooo daggy that I'm trying to upgrade. (Gave to Mum)

6th – old bath oil found in the back of the cupboard

7th – two daggy dresses

8th – I used up 3 old bottles of foundation and replaced them with one new one

9th – I cleared away my shrine to 'Nunsense', the last musical I did. There were so many gifts given and photos taken, that a corner of my room was devoted to it. I thought I'd better clear it away before the next musical…

10th – lid from God knows what

11th – Two microwave dishes that Mum – going back to her

12th – Old 70's Tupperware biscuit dish

13th – Cork base from broken coffee plunger thrown out ages ago

14th – Old Nutrimetics Eye liners – it's been a decade at least since I was a Nutrimetics consultant, and I'm sure all the samples I have are useless…

15th – Old Nutrimetics Lip liners – both those and the eye liners don't so much line what they're supposed to do, as gouge a huge furrow into my flesh with each application

16th – A pair of pink jeans that I bought for a fancy dress party and have since worn to death and have holes in the belt loops where I keep hitching them up (I've got 2 more of the same jeans in diff colours but as they don't yet have holes in them I think I'll keep them till the end of winter before turfing them).

17th – A navy skirt I've had forever which is far too short for my chunky legs (donated)

18th – A pair of jeans that are size 13 (oh God was I actually a size 13 once, I've let myself go!!!), and I was holding on to them, you guessed it, 'just in case…' (Given to Mum)

19th – clove ball I made to freshen up the cupboard – waaay past its use by date

20th – found another clove ball…

21st – Harry Potter 7 released today YAY!!! A lid off something or other.

22nd – unopened jar of marmalade given to me for Christmas

23rd – I got a battery put in my smartie calculator that I haven't used in ages, and am now using it instead of using the calculator in my phone.

24th – a strappy top that I've squeezed myself into far too many times (donated)

25th – My micro tape recorder that I used to tape my lecture notes with – I've just discovered it doesn't work anymore (threw out)

26th – the two dozen or so mini cassettes that went with the tape recorder.

27th – My Olivia Newton-John tour t-shirt. It's way too small and I really don't wear many t-shirts these days. I've still got photo of us together though!

28th – a pair of eensy weensy gym shorts that just don't do tree-trunk like legs justice.

29th – A pair of 'once was black but now is an embarrassing greyish colour' Australis (God do they still make Australis stuff anymore?) leggings.

30th – An 'expensive' sweat shirt type singlet that I was talked into buying, wore once and looked ridiculous in

31st – My Amidee Island Pacific Princess 2000 cruise singlet top – well worn but faded and had it now – I've got my photos to remember the cruise.

· After 3 months, I'm concerned that I haven't lost any kilos cluttering up my thighs. I lose a bit then gain a bit, and never seem to get anywhere – story of my life really…

July (Part One)

· I’ve come to halfway through the month and haven’t actually cleaned out anything yet. This is the least motivated I’ve been in the last three months. Work is wearing me out I think, not that I’m really working that hard, but maybe it’s winter – I come home in the cold and dark and am too tired to do anything or get excited about cleaning out cupboards.
· The trend I’ve noticed is that I’m starting to get rid of stuff that isn’t falling apart anymore (I think I’ve cleaned out all of that stuff by now) and getting rid of stuff (clothes) I could still wear but that is daggy. I’m trying to upgrade my image a bit and get nicer clothes. This blog is transforming not only into a de - cluttering list but my transformation from dag to glamour puss (well, hopefully), we’ll have to wait and see…

June clutter

• Books I’m reading this month - ‘The Idiot’s guide to Tantric Sex’, ‘Something So Strong – the Crowded House Story’ Chris Bourke, (still) ‘ Picture of Dorian Gray’ Oscar Wilde, ‘Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde’, ‘The Year of Yes’ Maria Headley, ‘Elegance’ Kathleen Tessaro, ‘Niche and Grow Rich’ Jennifer Sander, ‘Mom Spa’ Jennifer Sander et al, ‘What Not to Wear for all Occasions’ Trinny Woodall & Susannah Constantine.

1st – Material swatches gathered up for outfits for the now defunct ‘Gemstone’ girl group I was a member of for about a week. We were all enthusiastic and ready to take over the world with our stunning harmonies and well coordinated wardrobes and then we never somehow got together for our 2nd meeting.
2nd – Wick for a glass lamp that broke ages ago.
3rd – Old uni bag. It’s still in good enough nick, but I suppose by throwing it out, I’m finally letting go of my ill fated and long suffering BA in Ancient History that I secretly suspected would only be completed when I had one foot in the grave, or finally found that rich husband who would enable me to give up full time slavery, er, work, and concentrate on my mental stimulation. I think I have come to terms with the fact that I never really started the degree with the intention on getting a job out of it, it was merely one of my scanner projects and I loved the learning side of it, I just hated the examination side of it. On the good side, I found 2 really nice black pens that were tucked into the bag and I’d forgotten all about. SCORE!
4th – document case with broken elastic.
5th – a pair of suspender stockings I’ve had for years that are still in their packet unopened – I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that my legs are not built to wear suspenders.
6th – A lantern that Mum gave me “just in case” of a blackout. It’s a huge camping one that I’ve never used and so far we haven’t had that blackout. Besides, I’ve kept it under my bed, so if that blackout did actually happen, I’d have to stumble my way to the bedroom, get down on my knees, slide under the bed and grope around for the lantern. Was never going to happen so it’s going back to Mumsy.
7th – Two sets of lingerie that no longer fit. Oh to have a B cup again, or even a C cup. (Donating)
8th – two pairs of ‘Fat’ shorts, that I whenever I yoyo and get fat again I fit back into – I’m giving them away so hopefully I won’t get big enough for them again. (Wishful thinking)
9th – I finally got a print I’ve had for years framed! I bought it a Byron Bay from a local artist probably five years ago and it’s been in my car for 2 year and under my bed for at least another 2. I picked it up today and hung it up in the lounge room and it looks beautiful! It replaced a painting that my ex boyfriend gave me for Valentine’s Day. Instead of roses (or even a single rose) I got a cutsie-pie painting and hand painted mirror. I loved them both but I was a tad disappointed with the lack of floral arrangements on that most important of days. Anyway, taking it down is a step towards making the ex boyfriend really ex.
10th – Four books I’ve either never read or have no intention of re-reading (donating)
11th – My old Knuckles (not from my hands) that I played with as a kid (and sometimes as a teenager). I was contemplating giving them to a friend with a daughter, but they’re old and she’d probably either have her own knuckles, or buy nice new ones. (Donated)
12th – Two really pale pink lipsticks – God knows why I had them anyway, I’m not blonde with blue eyes. (Only in my dreams)
13th – an old red jumper with lots of moth holes and pilling all over it – ugly you say, yes! But it was one of my old faves and SOOOOO warm and comfy.
14th – Three pairs of old shoes. Giving them to Mum. As an aside, I also polished up 5 pairs of still good shoes and gave them a new lease on life!
15th – Woven leather bag an ex ex ex ex ex Boyfriend gave me years ago. It’s been hanging up in the wardrobe for years ‘just in case’ the perfect matching outfit came along but I really doubt it exists.
16th – Fluoro Pink board shorts (donated)
17th – Used up two balls of wool on a rug for Misty. I was saving the wool for projects and hopefully am able to sell some of it but it was horrible to knit with so good riddance I say…
18th – a tatty old beach bag (donated)
19th – huge crocheted rug I made years ago – giving it to Mum to clutter up her house up with, and have the cat to sleep on…
20th – I cleared my fridge of a bit of clutter – taking off take away menus and price lists of massage places I no longer go to. Hopefully, the removal of the menu from the Indian restaurant down the road will help me to de clutter my hips of the results of too many tikka masalas.
21st – 20 or so cardboard boxes in the boot of my car. I was planning on moving back in April so I saved up cartons from HMV and didn’t end up moving. Seeing as I probably won’t move for ages and I now work in a shoe shop I don’t think I’ll be short of cartons.
22nd – ‘Melrose’ style hair clip (donated)
23rd – 2 pairs of hot pink shoelaces – one pair came with my joggers; Lord knows why I have 2 pairs… (Donated)
24th – A paper Lei I used as a part of a costume in a musical. Jonah Frederick Goeths born today yay! – This has nothing to do with de-cluttering, just thought I’d share!
25th – Kid’s water pistol (donated)
26th – HMV ‘Share Your Passion’ medal!!! How dorky is that, not sure how I ended up with it, but it was duly binned.
27th – Old brown hat and HMV cap. I wasn’t sure whether I should have kept it or not for old time’s sake (but that’s the point of clearing out old crap really isn’t it?), but a girlfriend was over and took them off my hands for me.
28th – A leather shoulder strap for a bag that got thrown out ages ago. I don’t know how I end up with all this stuff some days!
29th – I deleted a whole pile of phone numbers out of the memory of my mobile. It’s just as easy to accumulate clutter of names and numbers, as it is actual clutter you can hold. Some of the people in my phone I haven’t seen in years and seriously doubt I ever will, one of them was an ex boyfriend (no, not THE ex…), and so it was not really healthy to still have all of his numbers in there (THE ex’s numbers still are in there as we still sms every now and then, sometimes… L)
30th – My nails! No, not Chinese torture style removal of them, the last of the acrylic covering them came off today. When I quit HMV I had to give up a few little luxuries, one of which was my nails. Being a tight arse, I didn’t get them professionally soaked off, I’ve let them grow out and have filed them down and picked them off bit by bit. Now although I have a job, I just can’t be bothered with them anymore, so it looks like I’ve gotten rid of them both literally and figuratively.
Tax time!!! I wonder this year if I’ll end up paying Mr Taxman money again? HMV didn’t take out the correct tax, probably because I was getting paid monthly, year after year and I always got slugged with a bill so I hope this year will be different. Yes, I called payroll each year and was promptly told that the correct tax was being taken out! It probably wont be this year, as I’ve only just changed jobs and I got my L/S payout, but I hope at least this year it’s not a bill for $400 L I cleared out my receipt draw today too. It’s not getting included in the de-cluttering log, as it’s something I do every year at tax time, and then start filling it up soon after.

June (Part One)

· I’m starting to feel guilty about the amount of stuff I’m throwing out and my contribution to Landfill around the Greater Brisbane area. I understand that it’s better not to hang on to things that are no longer useful, but it’s a fine line between not wanting to get rid of something that has essentially outlived its usefulness and chucking stuff out randomly. I’m hoping that the good Feng Shui that I’m getting and the positive flow of Chi (or something) will somehow cosmically balance the bad Chi in the landfill.

· It’s been hard to get to clear stuff most days now that I’m working again, but I tend to go hard on the weekends and days off. I tend to collapse in a screaming heap in the evenings after work and stare blandly at the idiot box until it’s bed time then go to bed and do it all over again the next day. Until the weekend, then I get all energiser bunny and go nuts…

May clutter list

• This has been a great opportunity to just DO something. I've had so much time off recently and even though I have been keeping really busy I can't honestly say that I've achieved anything other than cleaning out the kitchen cupboards! I really enjoy having a project and hope that this one lasts a bit longer than my average ones.
• I have noticed something over the last month. I'm looking at the things around me in a new way. I look at stuff around me as to whether it has a use and it I'm going to actually use it any time soon - that has to be a good thing right? Anyway, here's the list for May - enjoy.
  
  1st – Old Christmas gift-wrapping kept from last year so not to waste it…
  
  2nd – Old bathroom scales gathering dust
  
  3rd – Old epilady (ouch) I've had for years and can't bring myself to use
  
  4th – Brown suede calf high boots that haven't fitted for some years due to the ever-increasing size of my calves (and other parts of my body as well). Still not up to parting with my Black knee-high FMB's (you know what they are ;)) as they are a reminder of my formerly skinny self when I had the calf size and confidence to actually fit into and wear the little buggers! (Donating)
  
  5th – Red shoelaces for my White Boot roller skates I've had for decades. Why I thought I needed an extra pair of (red no less) laces I'll never know. (Donating)
  
  6th – Bath oils and salts etc – I don't have a bath!
  
  7th – A box of crockery and stuff Mum gave me, which I haven't even unwrapped in a year! (Giving back to Mum)
  
  8th – A Black belt that doesn't fit anymore (no, not the karate kind. As if...) - still keeping the brown belt I bought in Florence that doesn't fit but I haven't got the heart just yet to get rid of it – who knows, maybe I'll fit into it soon when I shed a few more kilos. (Donating)
  
  9th – Imitation Masseur innersoles with magnets (bought for $2 at Crazy Clarks – They don't work!
  
  10th – Some old bottles of cleansers and face masques that haven't been used or even opened in months.
  
  11th – My last HMV work shirt I just couldn't part with, so I cut out the logo and have put it on my corkboard as a bit of nostalgia and threw out the t-shirt
  
  12th – 3 bras that needed repairing or just throwing out – threw 1 out and repaired the other 2!
  
  13th – A papier-mache vase that I've had for years and have painted over many times but have never actually used for anything (in the recycle bin)
  
  14th – Two very faded cardigans that I haven't worn in ages – really, who wears cardis these days? (Donated)
  
  15th – Black leather shoes that make my legs look fat – no really, they're totally wrong for my body type and shorten my feet and legs, and it's taken me years to face up to that fact (Donated)
  
  16th – A tonne of files in my decaying red filing cabinet. Old uni lecture notes and course material that I doubt I'll ever really use. I intend to ditch the cabinet itself the next time there's a council cleanup.
  
  17th – A second tonne out of my filing cabinet. Old letters from pen pals long past and associated photos of their dogs and/or children. Ahhh the memories…
  
  18th – I unsubscribed myself from the emailing list of a few 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' websites thus de cluttering my inbox a little bit.
  
  19th – A pile of old food colourings and condiments like poppy seeds and useless stuff like that. I am so not a cook…
  
  20th – A pile of old photos that were doubled up and I cleaned out 2 old photo albums and saved the photos in it from dying along with the no longer sticky pages of the album. I'd bet you a dollar that the albums were not acid free and that I was doing the photos a favour by releasing them from their acidic prison. I can't believe how many photos I have of the same things, and not all of them are double prints (although many of those got thrown out today – oh the money I spent on saying 'yes' to a double set of prints for no apparent reason…)
  
  21st – Old calculators and electronic organisers I've had for years (the calculator since High School!) and since my phone has both a calculator and an organiser I think I can safely donate both to a higher cause
  
  22nd – My taps (for tap shoes) from when I was a little 'un and got sent off to tap-dancing classes. I've been keeping them because I'm dying to take it up again, but I've come to realise they're too small for my shoes, and I'd have to end up buying adult taps anyway. (Donated)
  
  23rd – Juggling balls – don't ask!
  
  24th – Unopened hand lotion I've had for a couple of years
  
  25th – t-shirt and singlet top from Sth Pacific cruise in 2000
  
  26th – Hairspray and Hair goop, which makes my hair, well, goopy!
  
  27th – Soap dish – never used but very grotty.
  
  28th – My 'Easter Live' commemorative poster. I was involved with it way back in 1998 I do believe, and had fun. It led me on to another theatre company and a wonderful role so I'm so glad I took part, but realistically, I don't keep in touch with any of the cast and can't even remember their names, so what's the point of having it around?
  
  29th – The vine leaves wrapped around my cast iron bed. It was my mediaeval romantic fantasy to have ivy wrapped around my bed and candelabra, but after 2 years, the leaves have mostly dropped off and all I had left was a bald vine with hundreds of dropped leaves gathering dust under my bed. It was time to lose the vine but I've kept the stray leaves, maybe I can use them on a painting or a box one day.
  
  30th – a broken necklace I keep trying to repair and keep failing…
  
  31st – I've given up on HMV! I know I quit about 2 months ago, but I had kept hoping that things might have been better within my (ex) particular shop. They're not. Things are going waaaaay down hill – and it's not because I'm not there anymore. I am very glad I got out when I did. Also, when I looked closely at my long service and holiday payout, it was slightly less than it should have been by my calculations. The old me would have been straight on the phone, having a whinge about how I've been underpaid $30 or less, but it's water under the bridge, and I honestly think that it's just not worth the agro. I must be growing as a person. What a nice way to end the month! :)
  

May (Part One)

· The biggest thing cluttering my life for the last 11 years which I let go of last month was my job at HMV. It was frightening in the most wonderful way to not have another job to go to. For the last 11 years I had defined myself by my job- I ‘belonged’ to HMV, and for most of that time I was proud of that fact. I’m a loyal person and tend to cling on to things far longer than what is sometimes healthy, but I was in a huge rut and didn't realise it until I let it go.

· In the 5 weeks after I quit, I came to realise how good it is not to define yourself by your job. I was so used to being a daggy, jeans and joggers wearing music shop worker, I forgot what it was like to wear makeup and nice clothes on a daily basis. I began to realise that I can go in any direction I want to, and that the world is open to me.

· I’m working on reading a book loaned to me by my friend, Nicole – Crowded House’s biography. It’s been 6 months maybe since she gave it to me, and I started it straight away, but gave up and got so distracted by other books, I haven’t touched it in months. It’s been sitting on the floor by my bed ever since, the faces of the 3 boys looking up at me every time I go past, begging me to either read their story or give them back to their owner. I debated just giving it back to her but I honestly am interested in reading it, it’s just that I haven’t really been in the mood for biographies lately; I’ve been taken with novels and how-to books. I now plan to read a bit every day or two when I’m in the mood to concentrate on it and hopefully by the end of next month be able to add that book to my list of clutter I have cleared!

An Experiment

I'm trying an experiment to de-clutter my life both physically and mentally.

I found a blog by a woman called Connie Komack in the U.S. (where else?) who started a year long mission to clear her apartment (and life) of one piece of clutter each day!

Here's the link to her first blog:
http://conniekomack.blogspot.com/2006/06/experiment-in-letting-go-part-1.html

I can't forsee me sticking to a whole year, but I know I can do it for three months at a time. So, my mission, and I DO choose to accept it is this:
Every day for the next three months I will throw out / give away / actually DO something with an item that has just been hanging around wasting space or cluttering up my life. I'm going to keep a day by day list of each thing I get rid of so I can see my progress, and keep myself honest.
There are a few rules though:
1. I can let go of things in groups and not literally clear one item each day, as long as the number of items and days are equal.

2. Material things include: furnishings, household items, clothing, books, cosmetics, weekly or monthly magazines, unopened food packages (canned goods, etc). [Junk mail, daily newspapers, opened food packages, rubbish, and miscellaneous papers do not count, though whole files or notebooks of papers do count.]

3. A Kilo of body weight does not qualify as an "item" until and unless the weight has been off for at least a month and does not return during the duration of the experiment.

4. De cluttering or 'letting go' of things can include bad or destructive habits (I think eating a WHOLE packet of Tim Tams in one sitting can be included in this category), weight - see rule #3, and even attitudes. (I have an ex that's still weighing heavily on my mind and I REALLY need to let go of him, but I think that's further down the road)

5. At the end of each month I'll post a new blog, updating on how each month went, the highs lows and sideways of doing this, and how I feel about it.

So, you ask, "why is she doing this?" I'm glad you asked :P

I live in the world's smallest unit (well, maybe not the world's smallest unit.There's probably a whole family in Rwanda squeezed into a room slightly more cramped than my place) and have far too much stuff in said unit, mostly stuffed into cupboards or gathering HUGE dust bunnies under my bed. I also hate the feeling I get every time I walk past, or climb over, something I know shouldn't be there or should be getting used for something other than keeping the dust from settling on the carpet.

I'm also a hoarder. I tend to keep things 'just in case' I can use them, and as a crafty type person who makes things I do tend to find uses for a lot of things, but it's getting to be a bit overloaded at the moment. I want to move in October and I know that if I do stick to this I'll get rid of so much unnecessary stuff it'll make my move easier.

Another reason for this is that by clearing out physical things I feel better about myself emotionally. I like to be in control of my surroundings and at the moment my surroundings are controlling me, so I'm taking charge of my life one piece of junk at a time.

I've never blogged properly before either. I've done little bits here and there but no proper write a bit each day, keep your reader wanting more kind of blogs. So this is also an exercise in creative writing which will, maybe, lead to some more interesting written wafflings.

I know that I'm starting a few days into May, but I got this idea 2 days ago, and couldn't sleep with the excitement - I had to get up at 11.45 at night, write all my thoughts on this in my book before I could get a good night's sleep. And I already had a few things sorted out that I could clear. While I'm writing this introduction I'm also starting my daily log of things I'm letting go and I'm already up to the 9th of May, so this month should be a breeze.

Having said that, the next two months sould be a bit more of a challenge, but I think I'll be cool. I'm hoping that after a solid 90(ish) days of de cluttering I'll be ready to do another 3 months. If I do them in chunks of 3 months I think it's far more doable. Who knows, maybe I'll even get through a year?

What I want from you is feedback. I'm posting this publically so you can keep me honest, ask questions, let me know what you think, if you like the idea or think I'm a raving loony. Also, whether you want to actually see my day by day list of stuff I'm clearing, or just the update and the more interesting or unusual things I've let go of that month.

That's it for now, will be back in a month. Stay tuned, Same Bat time, Same Bat station...

www.myspace.com/jacqstar