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rsadelleAs I mentioned earlier, I'm on a neverending round of spring cleaning. I started tracking my spending recently, and discovered that I spend way too much money. I've been trying to spend less money, and also to simplify my life. I'm also feeling a little anxious, and organizing is one of the ways I cope with that.
Of course, there are places where I get stuck when cleaning, so I'm enumerating them here. If you have possible solutions, I'm all ears.
Roadblock: Books Other People Gave Me
I have no problem getting rid of books I bought myself. If I don't want them anymore, out they go. But books other people bought me, well. They bought them for me for a reason. I'm sure they chose them the same way I chose the books I've given them. (Let me say now: if I've given you a book and you don't want it [anymore], please do give it away or sell it or whatever. [As a general rule, I disapprove of throwing away or burning books, so please don't do that unless there's some sort of infestation or flooding issue that makes it the right thing to do.]) So I feel guilty about wanting to get rid of them. It's even worse with books people have given me that I haven't read and am pretty sure I'm never going to read. My guilt is only doubled by the fact that if they pay attention to my book lists, they'll know that I didn't read it.
Roadblock: Personal Souvenirs
This brings me to another category that includes items people gave me, things that fall into the category of souvenirs. I have a wineglass from a friend's wedding with the bride and groom's names and the wedding date on it that I really don't want. I have something someone made for me that I know I'll never use. I have t-shirts I'll probably never wear again but that I'm not sure I can get rid of (the PV Grad Night one with the entire graduating class listed on the back, for example).
Roadblock: Other People's Sentimental Attachments
There were a few things in my house that I didn't even consider as possibilities of things I could get rid of. My eyes just passed right over them. I finally realized those were things my mom's mom gave me. They don't have any sentimental or other value to me anymore, but I felt compelled to keep them because my mom might have some sort of attachment to them. This wasn't a groundless assumption, either. When my mom and I cleaned out her house seven years ago, she had all kinds of stuff that she'd taken from her mom's house when she died. It wasn't anything my mom was going to use; she just wasn't ready to let go of it because it had been her mom's.
Roadblock: Jewelry
I have a lot of jewelry, and I wear jewelry maybe six times a year. There have been times in my life, however, when I've worn jewelry every day. I don't want to get rid of all my jewelry because I might go back to that. I also don't want to get rid of all of it because I think I now actually own every possible length of silver chain. (This will probably be proved false next time I need a silver chain to match an outfit.) Part of the problem with organizing my jewelry is that I don't have a good place to keep it. I own three jewelry boxes I hate and a cloth rolling thing for jewelry that I like but isn't particularly conducive to organizing neatly.
Roadblock: Dresser
The top of my dresser is basically a clutter trap. Stuff just accumulates there. (Including jewelry I've worn recently. It's a lot easier to just leave it there than it is to put it away in the cloth rolling thing. And by "recently," I may mean a period of time up to a year.) I really only use the top two drawers of my dresser. I've also had my dresser ever since I can remember. What if I get rid of it and then decide later on that I really do want a dresser, and that particular one? I could probably leave it in the playhouse at my parents', but I don't want to be the kind of person who stores stuff away with other people. I've been thinking about putting it in the closet and seeing if I like that or if that makes me more amenable to getting rid of it. The downside is that it'll narrow my closet a bit, possibly enough to make it uncomfortable.
Of course, there are places where I get stuck when cleaning, so I'm enumerating them here. If you have possible solutions, I'm all ears.
Roadblock: Books Other People Gave Me
I have no problem getting rid of books I bought myself. If I don't want them anymore, out they go. But books other people bought me, well. They bought them for me for a reason. I'm sure they chose them the same way I chose the books I've given them. (Let me say now: if I've given you a book and you don't want it [anymore], please do give it away or sell it or whatever. [As a general rule, I disapprove of throwing away or burning books, so please don't do that unless there's some sort of infestation or flooding issue that makes it the right thing to do.]) So I feel guilty about wanting to get rid of them. It's even worse with books people have given me that I haven't read and am pretty sure I'm never going to read. My guilt is only doubled by the fact that if they pay attention to my book lists, they'll know that I didn't read it.
Roadblock: Personal Souvenirs
This brings me to another category that includes items people gave me, things that fall into the category of souvenirs. I have a wineglass from a friend's wedding with the bride and groom's names and the wedding date on it that I really don't want. I have something someone made for me that I know I'll never use. I have t-shirts I'll probably never wear again but that I'm not sure I can get rid of (the PV Grad Night one with the entire graduating class listed on the back, for example).
Roadblock: Other People's Sentimental Attachments
There were a few things in my house that I didn't even consider as possibilities of things I could get rid of. My eyes just passed right over them. I finally realized those were things my mom's mom gave me. They don't have any sentimental or other value to me anymore, but I felt compelled to keep them because my mom might have some sort of attachment to them. This wasn't a groundless assumption, either. When my mom and I cleaned out her house seven years ago, she had all kinds of stuff that she'd taken from her mom's house when she died. It wasn't anything my mom was going to use; she just wasn't ready to let go of it because it had been her mom's.
Roadblock: Jewelry
I have a lot of jewelry, and I wear jewelry maybe six times a year. There have been times in my life, however, when I've worn jewelry every day. I don't want to get rid of all my jewelry because I might go back to that. I also don't want to get rid of all of it because I think I now actually own every possible length of silver chain. (This will probably be proved false next time I need a silver chain to match an outfit.) Part of the problem with organizing my jewelry is that I don't have a good place to keep it. I own three jewelry boxes I hate and a cloth rolling thing for jewelry that I like but isn't particularly conducive to organizing neatly.
Roadblock: Dresser
The top of my dresser is basically a clutter trap. Stuff just accumulates there. (Including jewelry I've worn recently. It's a lot easier to just leave it there than it is to put it away in the cloth rolling thing. And by "recently," I may mean a period of time up to a year.) I really only use the top two drawers of my dresser. I've also had my dresser ever since I can remember. What if I get rid of it and then decide later on that I really do want a dresser, and that particular one? I could probably leave it in the playhouse at my parents', but I don't want to be the kind of person who stores stuff away with other people. I've been thinking about putting it in the closet and seeing if I like that or if that makes me more amenable to getting rid of it. The downside is that it'll narrow my closet a bit, possibly enough to make it uncomfortable.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-12 06:55 am (UTC)I'm actually gonna start from the end here. I think that putting the dresser in the closet isn't really the solution, you won't really get a feel for being without it. While I know you don't want to do it, I think a trial seperation is the answer. Store it at your parents of a friends or something, but put a definite date on the calendar by which you will make a final decision on it. That way you can experiment with not having it, but don't have to worry about ending up with bits of stuff stored all over the place (and unlike me, you have the self discipline to make it happen on schedule...).
As for the Jewelry have you considered bagging up your less used pieces? If you do this (in individual bags to prevent tangling or the loss of part of a set) you can then throw it all in a small container and stick it under the bed or in the closet. Everything is readily available should you need that one piece, but out of the way of everyday clutterness.
As far as your grandmother's things go, perhaps offer them to your mom? Something along the lines of, "I saw this on my shelf and thought it might mean more for you to have it close by". After all if she's attached to them, then she should have them...
I can't really offer souveneirs advice, I have a million, and I definitely can't get rid of them. The old non-decorative ones (like a certain grad-night shirt) reside in a trunk (some of which will supposedly be made into a quilt someday, but who am I kidding?). This really doesn't actually help cleanliness or storage organization, so I'm not sure what to say on this one.
And books...um if I gave them to you feel free to move them on. Otherwise um, I dunno, keep them off the public list?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-12 08:56 pm (UTC)Your bags idea sounded fantastic, and then I started thinking about plastic and how that might not be good for the jewelry. (I found this guide which suggests it's not.) I don't know that I'd want opaque bags because then I wouldn't be able to easily see what was in things. Hmmm. I was thinking about waiting until craft fair season and buying an actual wooden jewelry box, but I think they're horribly expensive. (I could also wait for my mother to die and then I would have her jewelry box, but that's quite a long ways off [I hope!] and comes with even more jewelry I have to organize.)
They weren't even really things my mom would actually have any attachment to! I pulled out a couple of them that I didn't want and offered them to her. There was only one thing she wanted, and she wanted it because she thought it was cool, not because she had a sentimental attachment to it. (I did give her the doll from Mongolia in a previous round of cleaning so that she and my dad can take it to Burning Man with their yurt.)
I did get rid of a blanket, so there might be enough space in my wicker chest to put the grad night shirt and other such shirts. (I might get rid of some of the shirts like that, like the YEA one.) (I, too, had the, "I could do something with these, like frame them" thought, and then realized I'm never going to do that.) Of course, that's not much of a help with the wineglass. (Seriously, a wineglass? What kind of wedding party favor is that? And if I donate it to a thrift store or put it on the free table at work, will it cause countless numbers of people to wonder whatever happened to the couple?)
But I'll still feel guilty when the people who gave them to me see that I never read them!