As I’ve been constantly saying throughout this whole Lockdown thingy, as awful as it is, we have absolutely no control over it, so I was going to find some positives and one of the best things I’ve found is giving myself little projects.
For the last two weeks or so, I’ve been doing some sorting at home through my room in an effort to just make it nicer, less cluttered and more liveable. To anyone who knows me, it’s no secret that I’m rather untidy and have a tendency to be a bit of a hoarder, but it’s just a part of who I am. If you haven’t noticed I’m slightly chaotic by now, you should probably see an optician or something! Saying I’ve been working on this for two weeks makes it sound dreadful, but I’ll just make it clear I’m
not spending whole days at a time on it, I’m doing an hour or two each day as much or as little as I feel, as I’m not really beholden to a schedule and as one of my good friends said to me on the phone when I was starting: “You don’t want to use all your fun up at once!”
So, armed with the idea of ‘to clear a mess you have to make a mess’ I began the daunting task of sorting through items, removing rubbish, old clothes and things I generally don’t need anymore. Of which there was a lot. Like a drawer full of old paperwork. Why on earth do I need bank statements from 2005? The short answer: I don’t. So, I gave myself the rule that if I haven’t looked at it in three years, then I don’t need it. Apart from the things that belong in my memory box. Or now ‘boxes’
If you’re not familiar with a memory box, it’s that box of random objects that you’ll end up keeping in the attic and in about thirty years time, you’ll go through it and have a wonderful nostalgia-fest. It’s always strongly romanticised in movies when they do that and I always thought it’d be quite nice to have my own personal time capsule hidden away. I don’t view this as ‘hoarding’, it’s keeping a record. Yes, there’s some things in my past I’d rather forget, but there’s also stuff that I love, so it’ll
be nice to look back one day. In fact, it’s been nice to remind myself of some of it while I’ve been doing this.
My room is very small and space is at a premium, so every bit of storage is super important, so I’ve been strict with myself where clothes are concerned. I must think I’m skinnier than I am when I’m shopping, as there are an obscene number of items, many still with labels on, that I must have imagined I’d fit into one day if I took up jogging. I clearly haven’t, so they’re going. I really can’t imagine me getting into fitness enough to make a difference, so I’m just going to have to face reality. These things are too good to just bin, so they might as well go somewhere where they’ll be useful, so off to charity they’ll go as soon as I’m able to take them. See – doing some good as well as keeping myself busy! Also, facing my shopping addiction head-on. And no, I’m not changing, I’ll always love shopping! Don’t shame me!
The next thing was general rubbish. Old magazines, envelopes, socks with holes, general tat. After forgetting to buy bin-bags, I’ve been working myself through my extensive collection of ‘bags for life’ that I’ve built up since cheap, disposable ones went the way of the dinosaur. Instead of putting them in the car to take food shopping, I always put them inside another bag for life inside a drawer which they never leave again, leading me to buy more on my next supermarket visit because I’ve forgotten them only to end up with more to add to my collection. I’m sure we all do this. It can’t possibly be just me. So, I ended up with a large drawer full and I’ve now got rid of seventeen of them filled with general guff. I’ve now downsized by bag-for-life collection considerably and have now reclaimed the drawer for its intended purpose of housing clothing – it’s delighted! So, after a drawer of bags and a drawer of papers, I’ve almost doubled my storage space, not to mention I can see furniture again!
What had started off as a little corner clearing project to clear some space to work in a corner has become a full clear out, clean, reorganise and facelift. It’s honestly been quite cathartic and fun, working to my own schedule and reminding myself of fun memories all while clearing clutter and getting rid of dust. The space now feels much more welcoming, liveable and positive and there’s still more to go yet! Now that my own space feels more decluttered and I can get to things when I need them and train myself to put things away, I think my life feels a bit more de-cluttered too. I no longer look at it, grumbling, thinking “I must get round to this” – The mountain has been climbed. And it feels good.
Stay Safe, Stay Sane, Stay Vidalicious x
