So, minus the cold-from-hell that had me down a few days, I’m progressing well through the Move Toward Minimalism. So well, in fact, that Lala has asked me a few times if I’m leaving her. She pointed out that would be incredibly embarrassing to trick her that way. “Well, yeah," she would have to say to incredulous friends. "Sure, she packed everything she owned in boxes and got rid of mountains of stuff, but she said she was becoming a minimalist.” Shrug. “Why wouldn’t I believe her?”
But I’m not leaving. Emphatically, no. I'm still focusing on how I want my reading/writing space to look (and I have to point out that sick time is very good Pinterest time. I’ve never really been into it before, but when you’re daydreaming about a space while on cold medicine, there is little more satisfying. My dream office board is here, if you want to check it out).
First, let me tell you what I did.
I got rid of a full (huge) station wagon of stuff.
I took most to the Depot for Creative Reuse (there should be some hella fine yarn there, Bay Area knitters) and the rest to Out of the Closet. (Oh! I gave up the idea of the garage sale. I wouldn't have ever recouped my loss, and I'd already enough time, energy, money, and storage space to these things. It felt good to let go.) I gave away a ton of books in a frantic culling of author copies on Facebook and Twitter. I boxed everything I have to keep, but I bet not all of it will find its back way in from the boxes on the porch.
See, I got rid of the storage. I got rid of four large Billy bookcases and two small ones, bookcases that had been storing my crap for twelve YEARS. I shoved yarn, sweaters, photo albums, knitting patterns, books, memorabilia into those shelves like the boss of storage I was. I got rid of 20 Sterilite drawers and boxes that were holding things.
My whole office looked like this. Then I got rid of all the storage.
I don’t have anything to store things in. The closet is lovely and empty. I challenged myself with the "I have one of those already" statement. (Is your heart beating faster, reading that? Mine did. "I have one bag." ARE YOU SERIOUS I NEED EVERY ONE OF THESE THIRTY BAGS FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. I took a box and labeled it ONE. I put the extra things in there, just to think about themselves. I promised myself I wouldn't get rid of the box. Then I did. And it felt good. (I still have about five bags because that's impossible, yo. This one is my travel bag, this one is my knitting bag, THIS IS MY MOOP, this is my cute-night-out bag.)
The room I’m sitting in right now will have four pieces of furniture.
- My beloved desk that my friends bought me when I got my agent will stay, holding my printer and a lamp.
- My new (used) rolltop desk will hold everything writing related: pens, ink, Post-its, the all-important Thinking Gum). (Augh, the delirious joy of this desk. I’ve wanted one my whole life. Hasn’t every writer?)
- A chair. Will use the one I have till I find the right one. I hate this old ripped Ikea chair that I've always had to use a back bolster with, but it's my lowest priority.
- A reading couch. I’d prefer something antique and Victorian and old. Basically, I want my office to feel like Juliet Blackwell’s house, you know? But comfortable is the highest priority for the couch. I want to be able to read till the book falls out of my hand. I want room for all the animals to pile of top of me. I want to be able to stretch out. I’m taking my time. I’ll find my couch when it’s time.
I have a guy coming in tomorrow to quote how much it would be to pull up the carpeting and build a good, sturdy bookshelf (not a Billy! No!) because even though I got rid of shelving, a girl still needs a few shelves for books and the really beloved things that should be seen and treasured, not hidden. I'm going to paint, also — a darker color. Most of the things I love on Pinterest are dark, cozy, and inimate. Curated, not cluttered.
Right now, the office is almost empty. It echoes. Music sounds amazing.
It makes me a little nervous, too. I’m reading Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and she says: If you can’t feel relaxed in a clean and tidy room, try confronting your feeling of anxiety. It may shed light on what is really bothering you. When your room is clean and uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state.
Well, yeah. I know exactly why I’m doing this. I’m almost done with a first draft of a book, and this is the hardest part of writing for me. At this point, I’m always convinced that what I’m writing is the worst thing ever written in the history of the world. It’s so hard, in fact, that I took the last week of the year off from writing entirely, to let myself… Well, okay. I just let myself off the hook, which was good since I worked a couple of killer weeks at the day job followed by this sick thing. But mostly, I’m avoiding going back into the book.
The book is cluttered. The book is noisy and messy. The book needs to be edited, and it can’t be until it’s done.
So I’m attracted to thinking about quiet, about simplicity, about minimalism. Every time I look that right in the eyes, stare into the truth of it, I feel calmer. I’m getting back to the book one week from today. I’m ahead of schedule, not behind it. Lying creatively fallow for a couple of weeks feels right.
And in the meantime, I’m enjoying paring down my life to only the things that bring me joy, which is Marie Kondo’s whole premise. Does the item thrill you? Give you joy? Keep. If not, release. Why spend your life around things that don't thrill you? And oh my gosh, I LOVED reading her account of being a child obsessed with organizing. I thought I was the only kid who carefully read and saved ways to use toilet paper rolls to organize your makeup drawer, who memorized stain-lifting recipes, so impatient to try them I’d sometimes make a stain on purpose, just to see. I loved the penny-pinching tips in Ladies’ Home Journal and Mother Earth News. I was obsessed with making things neat and tidy and lovely.
She also points out that “storage experts are hoarders.” Takes one to know one, I guess. That sure resonates with me.
I’m enjoying this trip.
IT all sounds impressive, but the thing that stood out for me was that YOU GOT RID OF THE PLASTIC STORAGE BINS! OMG, I have never been able to do that…so over time, I end up refilling them. Hats off to you!
CONGRATULATIONS! I am glad you won’t be on Hoarders!!! I liked that quote about anxiety, though I’m opposite. I can’t relax in a messy and cluttered room. I wonder what that means. I probably over-examine my inner state. Anyway, it looks beautiful and now you have made space for new endeavors!
Kondo’s quote about feeling anxious in a clean, uncluttered room really spoke to me, so I confronted the anxiety. Explanatory note: I live in the house in which I grew up, having moved back in after Dad died to care for Mom in her last days. Both died in 2006, and I am still here.
Here is what I realized: I can’t feel calm in an uncluttered space because without the stuff, everyone feels so permanently “gone”. The stuff hides the absence I’m trying to pretend doesn’t exist. Whenever I clean up, I’m both relieved for a moment, then the anxiety creeps in (followed shortly thereafter by new mess).
Dude, I think I need therapy…
And wow, do you have courage. Throwing away all that stuff–the yarn? Seriously? Out of all the stuff I treasure, the yarn and the books (and the cats) are the few things I would keep! The rest of it can go. All I really want around me are the things with which I enjoy making art, or music, or reading or learning from. All the art supplies will stay. The antiques, the hideous bell-shaped lamps bearing pink hand-painted roses, and the cherry trifold table I was never allowed to breathe on as a child for fear I might damage Mother’s Good Table will all GO. Along with the size 11 cords I know I will never fit into again but that have resided in a tub for 15 years.
Kondo’s book is transformational. It feels SO GOOD to get rid of stuff.
Oh wow. Your Billy bookshelf is like looking into my office. Keep purging. You are my inspiration!
I was in Michaels today and all the plastic drawers were calling out to me! But I resisted…empty drawers just invite more unnecessary stuff! You are setting a good example to the rest of us!
Congrats! I really like getting rid of stuff too. Yesterday I took several bags of stuff to the goodwill. And I have been shredding and throwing out papers that I no longer need. It feels so good clearing it all out.
First off, I wish I live near enough to snatch up some of that yarn you gave away. Yarn rarely shows up in the Goodwill stores and thrift shops I frequent around here.
I agree with you about giving the items away. By the time I am ready to get rid of something, I don’t want to be bothered trying to sell it. If I can’t what I think it is worth, I would rather just give it away. For some reason, it feels better to give it away than get pennies on the dollar for it.
Wow! I am so proud of and inspired by you. This past fall I started a clear out, too. Got rid of a ton of stuff. But there is a ton more. I even got my husband on board. He’s going through his years of saved crap. Big!
I, too, am at a hard part of my book waiting for the final edit. It just makes me so anxious I could jump out of my skin. Gack.
Hang in there! And happy new year to you and Lala!
I am in awe. I am gradually decluttering, but on nothing like this scale. However, having just lost our internet connection for a week, I do not have your faith in the digital world. If I had relied on Rav this past week, I would have gone crazy. Seriously, do you really think you can trust the Cloud always to be there? I am reconnected now, but I am told I can’t rely on the 8.5 kilometre cable between my farm and the telephone exchange, and no, they can’t change the cable for me. So I need my paper copy knitting patterns, dudetta!
Brave, brave woman. Your de-cluttering account is inspirational and makes me realize that I need to just do it! Maybe this year.
There must be something in the air. I have been decluttering like a mad woman. I love my house so much but it is way too big for me. However, I can’t give up the view…so I stay! 🙂 It is very hard to let go of things, but incredibly liberating when you do it! At least for me. Thanks again for your inspiration. One of your other commenters said “finances, depression, weight, clutter, what next?” I have to agree with them! What’s next!!!! PS: Got rid of yarn? I kind of broke into a flopsweat when I read that. (whispers to self: Be brave, my soul. You can do it! Go get the yarn!)
I have to confront the storage bins. Somehow the yarn and knitting books were easier because they were going to live with friends. But the storage bins have things only important to me, or worse, to my mom. So anything not kept will be pitched. Much, much harder.
I’m reading the same book! I took a truckload of stuff from my attic to Goodwill and then cleaned out 2/3 of my clothes and took 5 more bags. I still have a long way to go, but 2015 is going to be the year I break the cycle of 3rd generation borderline hoarder AND I’m going to share this mentality with my parents! 🙂
Good for YOU!!! 🙂
I want a roll top desk so bad! and a sleigh bed…but first, I must thin OUT the MANY things that do not bring me joy! 🙂
I couldn’t face the mountains of clutter all at once, so I took the slow, break the job down into manageable pieces approach. Every week I filled up the trash and big recycling bins (both with wheels). Once they were full, I considered the task done for the week. I also hate yard sales, so I set reusable items aside for a huge Goodwill pick-up. I donated several bins each of fabric and yarn to an Elks lodge with an established history of using the materials for quilts and afghans for veterans – I know they will be well used and appreciated. It took over a year, but the corners and crevices in my house are visible once again. I kept enough yarn and fabric to make me feel comfortable but not crazy.
Heh. I actually did do that once upon a time when I was deciding whether to leave my ex. The process of paring down and sorting out the things that really meant something to me helped me figure out what I was doing with my life in a really confusing time, and made me feel safe and able to gtfo when he was being weird. In the end I did just take that carload of stuff and leave, but I think Lala’s safe 🙂
I’ve always had lurking around in my mind a science-fiction short story in which everybody in the world was only allowed to have one of everything, one plate, one mug, one pencil, one pen, one of each item of clothing. If you lost it, too bad (or you were entitled to just one replacement; I haven’t decided). But then the domino effect of that central plot idea was quite astonishing. I realized it would affect relationships, economics, social status (what if you had TWO of something?), crime, law… It would certainly give birth to a vast black market of things. The story has never coalesced but I love thinking about it.
I looked at your Pinterest and I love the shelving! Keep us updated!
We are on this bandwagon! My husband asked why I never work at home and the answer is simple: I cannot work amid such clutter. It seeps into my brain and takes over. But… I’m both excited and overwhelmed by this decluttering. I’ve got so much to get rid of! Yarn, a full set of China, furniture – how do I get it gone? Where do you take or how do you sell a full set of China?!
I read Kondo’s book over a month ago, but at the time I wasn’t able to really get the momentum going to do anything. Somewhere between your posts and Kay’s Instagram pictures these past few days, I’ve actually started. Perhaps not in a full-on-Kondo kind of way, but still … something. Momentum. Foward movement. It’s good.