What a treasure trove I found (metaphorically speaking) …

Back in September I wrote about how I was finally attacking my closets and drawers and cupboards and pantries and shelves and papers.  Long overdue it was.

Well I’m happy to say I’m done.  Mission accomplished.  And you may find this hard to believe but I actually enjoyed it.  So much so I seem to have become obsessed with order.

I now wake up in the middle of the night and go through stuff and purge.  While I’m watching TV or reading a book I suddenly get the urge to reorganize what I’ve just organized; and I do it!  In slightly under two months I’ve gone from thriving in chaos to being OCD.

Clearly I am channeling my mother who is, of course, loving it.

Speaking of my mother, when I moved her out of her apartment and

A life less encumbered …

In last week’s post I compared walking the Camino Trail to our life’s journey.

Both require endurance. Both often necessitate we divest ourselves of the unnecessarily heavy loads we carry. For those walking the Camino it usually means emptying their knapsacks and even leaving sleeping bags behind. In life it can mean getting rid of possessions, walking away from relationships, moving to smaller homes or relocating to different cities. Both also provide us with the opportunity to unload the emotional baggage that tends to bog us down.

I’ve spent the week thinking, on and off, about the changes I’ve made in my life over the years. What I’ve

Better than I could ever have imagined …

What a difference a week makes.  Last Tuesday I was moaning about having too much ‘stuff’; and how I had to start getting rid of it.  Well you wouldn’t believe the progress I’ve made.  So much so, I simply have to blog about it again, today.

Sorry.

Can’t say I blame you if you’ve had enough of this, particular topic, but I’m just having so much fun I can’t help myself.  So please, indulge me.  God knows if or when I’ll ever feel like this again.

Yes, I did say “fun”.  I know, “fun” is not usually a word one would associate with cleaning out drawers, closets, desks etc.  Unless you’re one of those neat freaks, which I am, most assuredly, not.  But for some, inexplicable reason, I’m enjoying myself — despite the sore back it’s giving me.

It’s wonderful to see all those bags piled up, ready to go — to the garbage, to recycling, to the shredder, to whoever wants it.  There’s more of ’em every day; and I must say, I am getting a tremendous sense of

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a hoarder …

… but I do admit I hang on to too much ‘stuff’.  I don’t know why really, because my mother wasn’t like that at all.  She was ruthless about getting rid of anything and everything she no longer needed, wanted or used.  Or fit into, for that matter.

Maybe this is nothing more than an act of rebellion on my part.  I’ve never thought of it in quite that way before.  Or maybe I just take after my father.  My mother used to crack the whip on both of us.

My closets and drawers are not a thing of organized beauty.  Neither is my desk.  Or my bookcase.  Or just about any surface you can find in my apartment.  My handbag’s the same.  A royal mess.  I can never find anything in there,

Day 84. Junk Drawers

I had brunch, yesterday, with a friend’s daughter, and her boyfriend.  Because the weather was so miserable (cold, windy, rain), I promised myself that I would attack my junk drawer when I got home.

Do you have one?  Of course you do.  Doesn’t everyone?  You know the one I mean.  It’s where you dump all those ‘its-and-bits’, the ‘odds-and-sods’ you think you should hang on to.  You don’t know what else to do with them, or where else to put them, so you shove them into the junk drawer.  Until you can no longer open or close it, because it’s too full of, well, junk.

And then you wait for a miserable day to attack it.  Well, yesterday was my day.

My junk drawer is located in one of my bedside tables.  I started by taking out each item one by one.  That was a total drag, so I just dumped the whole thing over on to my bed.  This is