A couple of weeks before 2012 began I stopped playing Farmville and resolved to do the following with all the free time I was going to have:
1. Relearn to crochet
2. Start and finish sewing projects
3. Read all the unread books on my bookshelf
4. Start writing again
These goals are part of a larger picture. Feeling burdened by all the stuff in my life I decided to reassess things, both physical and psychological. First reassessment came with Farmville. In the beginning it was a fun diversion. But, more recently, the more I played, the more I realized it was just something to kill time and not something that I was truly enjoying. And, the more I thought about it, the time spent doing this something that I was not truly enjoying was taking time away from things that I did, at least at one time, enjoy. So, I made the decision to stop playing. But, now what?
Again, feeling burdened by the stuff in my life, I decided to be mindful of what I had and mindful of what I bring into this house. I have to ask myself: Do I have a spot in my life (the life I want) for this? If not, it gets donated, or tossed in the garbage or recycling bin. And in the case of new things, not get bought at all.
An ongoing project this. Perhaps throughout the year, I’ll stop again and re-evaluate my progress. Hopefully a year from now my burdens will be lightened and I will have made room for the truly enjoyable.
As of this writing, I have already made progress:
1. Organized my address book and vowed NOT to save address labels from friends and relatives. I will now, upon opening a letter or card, double-check to see whether I have the most up-to-date address in my address book. If so, the address label gets tossed. If not, I will enter the new address immediately, then toss the label out.
2. I started crocheting a sampler blanket. So far I’ve relearned the chain stitch, the single crochet and the half-double crochet stitches.
3. Almost finished reading We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates. This book is definitely NOT a keeper. It goes in the donate pile.
4. Organized two drawers in my office closet. Now the envelopes are actually in the drawer marked “Envelopes”. In the process I found some mementos from long ago. Some that no longer have meaning were tossed, others will be donated. And, in among them was a beloved pendant that was my mother’s. For years I thought that maybe it somehow got accidentally donated or tossed away. I was very thankful to learn that it did not!
You have the distinction, in my lexicon, of being the only woman who actually throws anything out — and regularly returns to that theme. I find that delightful being much committed to simplifying everything. Good luck with that resolution and the others. Wonderful how recurring cycles give us new motivation!!!
Thanks, Arsen. In my immediate family, it’s the other way around. My husband can’t understand my obsession with throwing things out and simplifying my life. This new-found inspiration for purging also came from a book that I read recently called “Miss Minimalist: Inspiration to Downsize, Declutter, and Simplify,” by Francine Jay. I started reading her blog after reading her book. I found this entry particularly inspiring: http://www.missminimalist.com/2011/08/minimalism-around-the-world-danshari/.
Simplicity is a virtue.
It’s a good thing to throw away as much as one can and keep a house with very little.