the story

so, the story. or backstory, i guess. the story is still unfolding.

i was sitting around staring at my computer somewhere between january 1st & 3rd, that time where new year's resolutions are in full swing, reading the my resolution is, do resolutions work, do you keep your resolution blah blah. for me, they don't work. a few weeks, a month, and then all that guilt and i suck hanging over your head like pigpen's dirt. i haven't made a resolution in a long time, simply because i believe that:
a. it's a lifestyle change, not a temporary thing,
b. you should be kind/nice/etc. all the time,
c. i know where this is going to end up so...

hence, no resolutions. (yeah, hence*)

but this year, due to a bloom card i picked out of a hat at a new year's day party, i started thinking in a whole new way. yes, i should work out more, yes, i need to start getting rid of my winter padding, yes, more veggies, and on and on, but what will really make my life better? what will make me lighter, happier, clearer?

getting rid of stuff. decluttering. freeing space. my card read (insert royal trumpet music here):

we need less than we have.

six small words that rang like a bell in my psyche because i know it's true. i have too much stuff. i had said to friends last year, after my mom died and i had to deal with all her stuff, that i was getting rid of half of everything i own. i had my giant pile of stuff, and my mother's large-in-a-different-way pile of stuff which smelled like smoke and had burn holes in it. it was a whole lot of stuff. one of my friends said "wow, good luck with that. i could never do that!" um, yes, because you only own 20 books. anyhow, back then i started, and got rid of a lot of my mom's stuff, and a bit of my own**, but then i got distracted. things got in the way, life, friends, lego.

a year plus later i have the same to possibly a bit more stuff (damn you lego!), but i'm tired of moving, sorting, dusting, searching, losing, finding and most importantly, owning, all this stuff. i'm nowhere near the hoarders or clean house level, not even close, but it's still too much.

so here i am, led by a simple 2x2" card propelling me to divest myself of things that once meant something, but are now expendable. isn't that kind of what life is? we do things until they don't work, and then move on. well it's time for me to move on, and for my stuff to move on as well.


*love the movie house bunny.

**i throw out only what is truly trash. i hate the fact that we are destroying our planet and our environment and want to contribute to that as little as possible. everything that can be is being freecycled, donated, craigslisted or ebayed.
my mom's stained, nicotine smelling, holey clothing, no one would want that. not the poorest person in sub-saharan africa. they would get lung cancer from the scent alone. i did, however, cut off the buttons and keep them for scrapbooking or cardmaking.