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…

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