decluttering. our. lives.

Obviously the clutter thing has been an issue my entire life. And, by me talking so much about it doesn't mean that I have conquered it, by any stretch. It is a battle I face every day (hA, I'm making this sound so serious, like I have a major illness...).

I guess what I am trying to say is this, when you come to my house, don't have great expectations. Like I said, always a WORK in PROGRESS. ok. thanks for that disclaimer.

My point in writing this morning (yes, it is 5:34 a.m. and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd do something rather than just laying uncomfortably in bed)---is because I stumbled upon this FABULOUS article taken from The Happiness Project blog (thank you, Krista!). Apparently, it is all about finding out what makes your life happier. She is putting out a book too, which I might just have to buy.

I remember our art history professor (Aaron and I took the class together) told us, "Truth is truth, no matter where you find it." I love that statement and think about it all the time.

Well, she has some mighty truths over there. I love something she wrote that will be in her book,

'I said to him, “Someday, we’ll look back, and it will be hard to remember that we ever had
such little kids. We’ll say, ‘Remember when Eleanor still used her purple sippy cup, or when
Eliza wore ruby slippers all the time?’”
He squeezed my hand. “We’ll say, ‘That was such a happy time.’”
The days are long, but the years are short.'

Another great truth.

Anyway, she did a post about de-cluttering. I'll let you read it on her blog in it's full form, but some gems I found are these:

"I believe it’s easier to put things away in an exact place, rather than a general place ('the third shelf of the coat closet,' not 'a closet.')" ---SO true! that is the KEY for me being able to stay organized! no wonder my mom has me use so many little storage bins...

"I can’t get rid of anything that I might possibly need one day." ...Do you have gigantic stores of things like rubber bands or ketchup packets? How many coffee mugs does one family use?

"If you lose a bunch of weight, you’ll want to buy a new pair of jeans, not a pair you bought seven years ago. ----such a great point!


---like I said, find it in it's full form here.

All I can say, is at this point, I feel a lot happier getting rid of things that I thought "defined" me, or clearing out things that didn't hold much value anymore.

And while we're on the topic, why did I have so many MUGS? I mean, I love hot chocolate, but honestly... what was I thinking holding onto so many all these years??

So, I guess what I am trying to say is this, THANK YOU, MOM. I love that she already knew all this stuff. No wonder people have had her come into their homes and help them all these years! How lucky for me.

Now if I can just finish the assignments she gave me to go through those last few boxes that I'm tripping over in my bedroom... oh, but making felt flowers is much more fun. :)