Comment: Yup, I got it

So I went out and bought “It’s All Too Much” by Peter Walsh, as threatened, which is of course laughable given that by doing so I had to add another object to my home that tells me to get rid of my shit, and most of it at that.

But I will say this: it’s quite inspiring. I didn’t realize how much I have been hanging on to things for fairly irrational reasons, and without really any conscious thought. I have things I never look at, never wear, don’t like, or keep out of guilt. The book says, balls to that, get rid of it unless it’s either functional or beautiful (to quote William Morris, which he does).

Walsh also warns you not to fall into the oh-so-common trap of going out and buying MORE bins and MORE color-coded labels to organize your life, when really, it’s just more stuff. (As a result of reading this, I decided not to go to Target today. Besides, if there was ever a time to not buy things, it’s now. Save up and trim down.)

Walsh claims that if your house is a disaster area, your life probably is, too. So if the house is a reflection of the psyche, we are several flavors of disturbed over here. We regularly lose things, spend eons trying to find things we thought we’d put away, and find old bills and outgrown clothes everywhere we turn.

Of course this is all a strong indication that we have too much stuff. And nowhere is that truer than in the piles of paper in our “office” which is really also a guest room and, according to the kids, “the game room” even there are no games in it. I have eked out a tiny corner where my desk is, and here I sit stymied by the papers all filed in seemingly random places.

This is timely, too, because I’m trying to rewrite my resume. Sure, it has a SAHM-gap of almost six years, but it’s still good, right? I forgot how much work I used to do, and how many different jobs I had (from which none was I fired, FYI).

I need things like letters of recommendation, copies of credentials, even transcripts, and oh man, those are all somewhere, but ask me to put my hands on them immediately and you’d be SOL.

So before I can live my ideal life, which Walsh suggests you need to consider BEFORE going wild on the clutter, I need to find it. Cull some of the detritus and see what’s left. It’s actually pretty exciting.

Looks like I’m going to need a bigger recycling bin.