So, what am I thinking about today? The same thing that seems to pop up almost every time I stop moving... If you know me, you know I'm all about organization. I love to organize events, to get people together to do things in the world that seem to make a positive difference. How is it then, as someone so about organization, our house is such a MESS?!
Summer break here was mostly spent cleaning out our kids' rooms. This took HOURS. So many that half of our two week break was spent on this. Our vehicle was filled with 7 garbage bags of clothes to be donated. Another room here is FILLED with mostly toys now that I need to somehow get rid of. Felt good to know that at least their rooms are cleaner now. There is so much stuff here that it seems I'm always in a state of exhaustion and overwhelm. Just loading it all into vehicles to drive somewhere is work!
There is an up side though. With the change of season, a change of mindset is happening here. There is an overwhelming sense here that things must change, as happens with each change of season. Drawn to listening to things to try to inspire myself to take action, to get my mind off the mess...
A few weeks ago, as I was browsing the Pictou Antigonish Regional Library (PARL) web site that I've become so fond of, looking for an audio book to get my mind off the mess that I felt too tired to deal with, I came across a book called "L'art de la Simplicité: How to Live More with Less". THIS was just what I needed. My butt has been kicked back into gear. Great inspiration!
Listening to this book, it occurred to me that as more stuff is added in our house, there is less time to do other than clean, so the focus now in our house is on getting projects done and getting rid of stuff we no longer need. Simple, right?! No... So, the journey has begun here.
Saturday... Listened to the "Founder" on Netflix and started rebuilding our bed. Went to a lovely family dinner for Thanksgiving, then back to work as I listened to "Walt Before Mickey", and finished the bed.
This morning, started by listening to "Banking on Bitcoin". Occurred to me this is not really the sort of stuff I want to keep listening to. Not really my desire right now to start a business to get more material stuff! So, decided to call up a different audiobook instead...
Decided that, as inspiration to keep getting rid of stuff, I needed to remind myself to focus less on my ego... Now, I'm part way through re-listening to "A New Earth", by Eckhart Tolle. Even spending time writing now feels like I'm focusing on my ego, but I love his words and I needed to take a break from cleaning, so decided to write anyway... Writing helps to sort thoughts, after all. He wrote, "There is only one absolute truth, and all other truths emanate from it. When you find that truth, your action will be in alignment with it. Human action can reflect the truth, or it can reflect illusion. Can the truth be put into words? Yes. But the words are of course it. They only point to it. The truth is inseparable from who you are."
The truth is that, until I get rid of all the extra stuff around here, I will keep returning to being obsessed with cleaning up. The kids' computer room is piled up as well. This is truly an illness. Guess I should stop procrastinating and get to sorting that room, then go enjoy another wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with more family.
See some trips to the flea market and various donation locations in my future, too!
So, probably won't write much in next while. Time to simplify.
Thankful for clarity.
Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. Bet I'm not the only one out there who is feeling this way. If you are so inclined, please comment with your thoughts, or maybe your tips to simplify or inspire me to keep going, and I'll enjoy reading when I need breaks!
