Honoring the Process

Problem #1:

Lost my mind over getting rid of French books.  Entire declutter session derailed.

Solution:  Picked a hormonal fight with my husband.  Went on a date.  Slept on it.  The next day, write a blog instead.  Brought a box of books to Goodwill (chuck), none of them in French (keep).

Clutter Warning!  Brought 2 items home from Goodwill.  A shirt for the daughter (needed now) and a brand-spanking new pair of Converse tennies (which will fit probably within a year).

Problem #2:

Plastic bag of old tennis shoes hanging on the inside of the door to the front hall closet.  Why is it a problem?

• They are stinky
• They are so BIG that you can hardly shut the door
• I won't throw them away because I know they can be recycled 
• The oldest pair has been there for two years

Solution:  Used bag of shoes as an excuse to get out of the house, combining a trip to Goodwill with a trip to the Mall of America to drop shoes off at the Nike store.  Dropoff site is a little garbage can in the wall, clear to the ground so I can feel the satisfaction of seeing my old shoes pile onto other old shoes.  They will be turned into athletic surfaces.  (there is a nifty video)

Clutter Warning!  Because I can't stand to get rid of something that might be useful, we pulled all the shoelaces out.  They are in a pile on the couch waiting for me to find a home.  On the bright side, we walked out of MOA empty-handed.

The shoelaces are still stinky.

Problem #3:

"Your art with the clay and the yarn and the pastels is still here."  They gave it to me to take home after art therapy.  It was from my first session.  It represented an important process at the time, but it was ugly.  There were holes in the paper with torn cloth stuck in them and an orange Sculpey umbilical cord stuck to the paper.  I couldn't even show it to my artist mother because (a) it wasn't art, and (b) hello, umbilical cord!  It was mine.  I thought I had to walk out with it.  I wondered what I would do.  Were parts of it salvageable?  If I didn't take it, did that mean I was still in denial about the issues that came up while I worked on it?

Solution:  Fortunately, I was able to build on my previous successes.  I realized it belonged in the garbage before I even left the building.   I shoved it down the the paper towels in the bathroom.  I only have to keep the art I love.  And even that is not a "have-to."

Clutter Warning!  I will be creating a lot more art.  I am likely to love a lot of it.  Furthermore, my favorite art to do is collage.  So guess what kind of stuff collects, waiting to become collage?