Clutter ...

Jul. 2, 2006 - Clutter!
I just spent from 8am to 11:45 cleaning out clutter from someone else's attic ... and we've been working toward this for a year!

Now, I want you to know these are wonderful folks who would do anything for anyone! And, though I can't ask this question, I suspect that one of the reasons cleaning out was so hard was because they recognized the waste! When we began the process of helping them move about a year ago last month, they were embarrassed for anyone to see the "mess" ... and yet, as time progressed, they realized that they were incapable of making many of the decisions that needed to be made. We didn't know them well, had no sentimental attachment to their stuff, and so, it was easier for us. What I realized today was this- there was a bunch of money spent on a bunch of stuff, that's now a bunch of trash. There were games that appeared to be rarely played but are now mouse infested and chewed(like Clue and Cootie that were probably the original versions), a 1st edition of a Bobsy Twins book that was now moth eaten, Currier and Ives dishes, china dolls that the clothes had been chewed away by time(but the eyes still open and shut, and I believe will clean up nicely), new blinds that were never removed from their plastic, shoe mould that someone had just stored up there, old school assignments and projects from the early 1950's, and boxes and boxes and boxes that were simply empty!

Surely since 1950 there has been some child that would have loved those dolls, read that book, played those games ... and I have it on good authority that this was only about 1/10th of what was actually up there when the project began. Bags and bags and bags(probably between 75 and 100 green trash bags) have been taken to the curb ... all full of stuff that was of no use to them any longer ... and they had no energy(emotional or physical) to deal with it.

So here's my soapbox for the day:
If you have something you aren't using and don't plan to use in the next year- give it to someone who can use it!
If you have a boxes of stuff that you haven't looked at in a year, commit to look in it for anything of value and then give the stuff away!
I am a pack rat! I admit it readily. You'll find tons of AJ's school stuff in drawers and closets. I always thought there would be more children and thus there are baby clothes, toys and books. I save scraps of this and that, old magazines and newspaper articles. But I am committed to spending the rest of the summer getting rid of some of this stuff. Because it is true that it will all rot away with time ... that was proven today. I don't want AJ or some stranger to have to go through my stuff and decide what is of worth and what is not. Isn't it the playing of the game, the laughs, the time spent together that we are to treasure ... not the board and the plastic pieces?

It speaks to my soul as I think about how clutter creates clutter ... and I was convicted of what a sin it is to hoard things that I am not (nor do I really have a plan to ... ) use!