Clutter Creep Revisited

My own personal clutter monster is back with a vengeance. I think I harbor an internal clutter homing beacon. Had it since birth. I was always the messy child, teenager, college roommate and so on. Then last year I had some pretty miraculous things happen that showed me that I could achieve my dreams. So I made defeating that clutter monster one of my dreams for the year.

At the beginning of the year – I tossed those pesky New Year’s Resolutions out and started concentrating on some of my dreams. Did really good for a couple of months. Four truck loads to the dump, a couple to the local thrift store, and my whole self was feeling incredibly lighter.

Then, as always happens, some of those pesky bumps in the road of life appeared on my horizon. I hit them hard and without realizing it the dreaded clutter started creeping back in.

Of course I have excuses, who doesn’t?

* Maybe it was the fact that my son started getting emotionally worse and not better and was recently diagnosed as being Bi-Polar and having a Borderline Personality Disorder in addition to his Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Severe Depression. How in the heck am I going to help him overcome four different things at the same time? I don’t handle anxiety well.

* The clutter could have come back because, to avoid the emotional upheaval, I would escape reality by reading books and reading a lot. So much so that I even had to take it up with my Young and Gorgeous counselor.

* Getting sick with pneumonia and losing the whole routine of my life for a few weeks could have done it. Once you get out of your routine you have a hard time getting back into it.

* Of course I’ve blamed the blasted unseasonable wet weather as an excuse not to send the kids out. Usually I sing the praises of our moderate although cloudy Northwest weather. But winter weather at the start of summer isn’t right.

Not only was the house clutter come back but a little of that weight clutter came with it in the form of emotional eating. And you can't emotionally eat without adding a few pounds here and there.

I realize that my troubles are soooooo light compared to so many people out there, and they are exactly what they are – excuses. Why I give them so much power is beyond me.

So, as I’m now slowly waking up from my emotional shell that I’ve had in place over the past couple of months. I’m realizing the harm I’ve done and it’s stopping now.

I’ve got several factors on my side. Like being a stronger more knowledgeable person than I was a year ago. Knowing that I can achieve dreams if I really try. Realizing that I’m not a quitter and it’s never to late to keep dreaming those dreams, well, that has to be my quest.

So my ‘Dream On’ Fridays are coming back. I’m going to be accountable and start making that ole' clutter monster (both weight and material) wish it didn’t exist. And I’ll tell you all about it on Fridays.

My weight focus for last week was to consistently exercise 5-6 times, and I did it. This week, it’s avoiding fast food.

I’m also going to start revisiting those before and after rooms that I tackled this spring. They are as good a place as any to start and I know they won’t take as long as they did last time I purged them.

My vanquishing clutter rules are the same and I’m going to stick to them like gum sticks to your shoe in warm weather.

1. Everyday, take out more trash than I bring in. Revolutionary, if I say so myself. Notice how this one step can have far reaching, greater overall implications in my anti-clutter crusade. Be it financial, physical, mental etc.

2. Everyday organize one new little space, drawer, closet shelf, or on bad days just two-foot section of floor, etc.

3. Be accountable. Hence the blog.

So back at it I am. See you Friday!