Junk Out 2010

This week I didn't make the kind of progress I had hoped for. That's ok, I'm becoming a lot more comfortable with releasing things, and that is a huge step in the right direction. Huge. I passed on a ton of baby boy clothes to my youngest sister today without hesitation. I didn't take a picture, but when I say a ton, I mean a ton, or however much 2 very full garbage bags weighs...

It gets easier, I'm seeing that, but I still have a long way to go. I've realized that I am the type of person to develop an emotional attachment to just about anything I've ever touched, owned, or even seen. Ok, that could be a slight exaggeration, but it's not that far off.

I have single coffee cups that I never meant to collect, and that annoy me because there is no uniform-ness in my cup cupboard. Haphazard cups bumping into each other stresses me out, and yet I've kept them, even a few of the chipped ones. "You never know when you might need an extra cup, right?" "That chip isn't that big." Ok, the one that had the crack spread down the side and then started dripping coffee on me... that one went. You see? I'm not hopeless. I just have too much junk.

I have decorative plates that never get used. Some were gifts, and you know how that can go... I've never once been given a guilt trip by anyone (that I can remember) about not hanging onto a gift of some sort, and yet I have guilted myself into not getting rid of things that someone gave me for years and years. I've gotten better at it, but I do still have that Tabasco glass that one of my sisters gave us years ago. It's really cute, actually, but it sits up in a back corner of the cupboard just taking up space, mostly because it's a lone cup, and I have this thing for symmetry and pairs. It held pens for a while, but then I moved up to a bigger and wider pen holder, and back into the cupboard it went. It's a cute cup, but I don't need it and somebody else might get some enjoyment out of it. It's going in the box.

I have fabric I've never cut into, but that I had an idea for some time ago...

I have sewing pattenrs I'm sure I'll never use...

I have knitting books and patterns that I thought about using once upon a time...

I have boxes of papers that either need archiving or shredding...

I have games no one liked to play...

I have tablecloths that don't fit my table...

I have books I meant to read and school books I meant to use, before I changed my mind...

I still have clothes I never wear hanging in my closet, despite several purgings already...

I have pictures I've never hung...

I have small kitchen appliances that seemed like a good idea at the time...

I have unused Tupperware...!?!

I just keep finding things, things I don't need, things I never use, things I don't even like anymore, and a new feeling comes over me- the feeling like I can give, sell, or toss!

I love the decluttered corners that I've reclaimed, the order that has returned to my closet, and knowing that even an organizationally challenged packrat can find freedom from things- things that clutter the mind as much as they clutter the home.

I love getting the Junk Out!!