Unnecessary Possessions are Unnecessary Burdens

I love decluttering. A year ago, I started with FlyLady (in case you don't know FlyLady, you can find her at http://flylady.net).

I have to admit, I didn't start with baby steps, like she told me to. I tried to implement the whole program at once, and that is probably why I still don't always have a shiny sink. It comes and goes. However, I did take her decluttering systems to heart.

I ran across the quote today that is the title of this post, "Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens." I love that. A year ago, my bedroom was not a haven. It had some nice furniture, coupled with a cluttery shelf of nicknacks and a large shelving unit that didn't match and looked junky. Today, it has only what I love in it. Why? Because my closet doesn't have all the GARBAGE in it that I was holding on to. Because I was willing to quit displaying things that I didn't need or love on my wall on a decorative shelf that didn't really fit in my room, just because it was a gift.

Over the past year, I have donated about 15 large bags of stuff to charity. I have filled my trash can and recycling bins over and over again with things that were broken or missing pieces that I didn't want anyone else to decide they "needed" when they would have just burdened their lives.

Last week, Aaron and I spent hours going through our personal spaces. Mine is my bedroom closet, and his is his office. We filled another three bags up with items to donate, and we filled the garbage can halfway full, and the recycling cans nearly full (yes, I said cans - we go through so much, we have two). His office no longer has plastic bins and cardboard boxes all over the floor, and my closet has some empty shelves and floor space. As soon as my family and I finish scanning the Kukachka photo albums and I get them out of there, there will be enough room for Aaron's clothes to come back into it, if he should want to move them back in from his office.

Saturday afternoon we cleaned out the garage. We filled the garbage can and recycling cans all the way full. Pickup day is Thursday, which makes emptying the trash pails in the house a little tricky for a few days, but that's okay. We also burned the old scraps of wood, the ping-pong table that had no frame to lay it on and hasn't been used since the frame broke when we moved into this house, various pieces of old furniture that had been waiting for repair for too many years to think we were actually going to fix them, and other miscellaneous items. There are now two large empty spaces against the walls of the garage. For the first time ever, I can walk in front of my van when it is parked in there.

I didn't do it all in one day. I worked on a little at a time. I did 15 minute missions, and I did some 4-hour-long marathons.

The best part of decluttering is that when there is less stuff, there is less to clean up. I struggled with keeping my young children's rooms clean in the past. It would take so long to get it all cleaned up, I would just let it go until it would take a whole afternoon. Now, I have learned to get rid of what they don't need. It was hard, at first. I didn't feel like I could get rid of a toy that a child grew out of, or that they didn't play with, especially if it had been a gift. I would hold on to toys that were broken or missing pieces, thinking that I could fix them or that I might find the pieces sometime. Of course, that rarely happens! This stuff would take up precious square footage in my storage area, and then eventually a child would discover them and dump them all over the place. All it did was contribute to the mess.

Now, there is so little in Katie's room that we pick it up each night at bedtime, and it never takes more than a couple of minutes. She doesn't get bored with what she has, either. Aidan and Dallin have only one bucket of toys, one small container of trains, and one small box of Duplos. That is enough for them. The older boys are still working on keeping their room clean, but there is an amazing difference in how their room is today than it was a year ago. It used to be that I couldn't walk through it without stepping on toys, and today it is normally only a little laundry or old homework that is on the floor.

If you are thinking about decluttering, but just don't have the will power to do it, try out FlyLady. She'll give you the tools necessary to find the courage to part with the stuff that is burdening your life.