Ruthless
I spent most of yesterday slowly tidying the conservatory. It has become a complete mess. I made some progress and in the process discovered I live in a geek house. I began displaying things that were meant to be displayed like the Halo and Star Wars lego. And then there was the Dr Who stuff. Plus beside them were three record collections of bird song (yes, grammerly phoney things), soldering kit and an AR Drone. Oisin is trying to find space for his Naruto collection. In fact most of these things are Oisin's. Ghin's things consist mostly of drawings - he has hundreds and hundreds of drawings and I have no idea where I will put these. I was thinking about buying wallpaper later this year, but maybe I should instead just use his drawings as wallpaper? Dunno.
Everything else, apart from the Main Lesson books I have begun throwing away. Not even recycling because they are either unrecyclable or they are in such a state that they can't be recycled. I said to the boys, look, we have so much junk. I am putting a moratorium on more junk buying for the next six months. So there. Do NOT ask me to buy any of you any more toys. Do NOT. No techno, no Lego, nothing, until we have sorted more of this place, and all of your room. We are going to be here for eternity.
How do we accumulate so much stuff? And I used to think I was not an accumulator. Sometimes people give us things. So I also managed to find things to give away as well. I put together a small parcel to be posted tomorrow. Perhaps if I spend the rest of my life giving away things, then by the time I am 65, I would have managed to completely my decluttering. Perhaps there is a cluttering and decluttering cycle. During the first 15 years of your child's life you clutter and then you declutter.
It is nice cleaning up the place though. I took a lot of the Halo Lego and said to Oisin, look we need to clean these window ledges. I want NOTHING on these ledges - they make the place look untidy. Then Oisin, in his usual giddy way, began to join in with looking at the things in jumbles in boxes and said to me, wow, hey I remember this! Hey, this needs fixed! OK, I remember this guy. I think I was seven when I got this. Mom, it's just like Christmas. And it WAS a little bit like a second Christmas. I discovered loads of art things which I had and forgot, and that sort of got me started again, thinking and doing things. I wrote a letter - a proper letter - and I organised my art things. Maybe I could start painting again... it was very satisfying. I discovered lots of rubbers, and lots of materials. I thought of all the wonderful, wonderful things which I could do with them and will do with them. It was extremely lovely. I was thinking that if I looked back on 2015 it was the year, that despite all those terrible tragedies on a worldwide scale, that 2015 was the year that it seemed to start working out for me - on a personal level.
I know I have neglected my friends dreadfully. I know that.
It is terrible. I hope they forgive me. If I still have any friends left.
I need to spend less time on Facebook and more time with them in real life.
The plus side, I have been messaging friends through Messenger on FB.
So the upshot of all this is I have discovered that I never need to buy anything ever again - except food. Not even toiletries at this stage. Maybe toothpaste. Well, not even toothpaste actually. We have taken to using baking soda.
I mean I look at my desk. Digital camera, Chinese inkpot, ang mo ink pot, letter holder, several very pretty folder holders, lots of paper, lots of erasers and pens and pencils, colour pencils, watercolour and pastel sets, box cutters, gift wrap for every occasion, books on a variety of subjects, this laptop., it just goes on and on. This year will be the year where I don't spend money on stuff because I have it all. I often wonder, how people end up wanting things like really expensive watches and clothes - oh yes, if I lose ten kilos this year I could fit into ALL the clothes in my wardrobe. So that is a great reason for losing 10 kgs.
So tomorrow, or rather later on today, I will go for my run, then I will clean a bit more - maybe one box or something - then I will pay a visit to friends - maybe one or two - then I will come home and do the garden if the weather is good. Oh I need to post my parcel.
So this year will really by the start of my decluttering cycle. And spending less time on FB. I promise. Anyway, I have noticed that FB makes me slightly neurotic. It makes me think that the world is a delusional place. It is either extremely bad or filled with people trying to make themselves feel better by posting super positive things. I think all that is true, but I do not have to have it shoved in my face about 2,000 times a day. I need to intersperse that feeling with real life you know.
Well, onwards and upwards. The march of the ruthless, may it continue.
Everything else, apart from the Main Lesson books I have begun throwing away. Not even recycling because they are either unrecyclable or they are in such a state that they can't be recycled. I said to the boys, look, we have so much junk. I am putting a moratorium on more junk buying for the next six months. So there. Do NOT ask me to buy any of you any more toys. Do NOT. No techno, no Lego, nothing, until we have sorted more of this place, and all of your room. We are going to be here for eternity.
How do we accumulate so much stuff? And I used to think I was not an accumulator. Sometimes people give us things. So I also managed to find things to give away as well. I put together a small parcel to be posted tomorrow. Perhaps if I spend the rest of my life giving away things, then by the time I am 65, I would have managed to completely my decluttering. Perhaps there is a cluttering and decluttering cycle. During the first 15 years of your child's life you clutter and then you declutter.
It is nice cleaning up the place though. I took a lot of the Halo Lego and said to Oisin, look we need to clean these window ledges. I want NOTHING on these ledges - they make the place look untidy. Then Oisin, in his usual giddy way, began to join in with looking at the things in jumbles in boxes and said to me, wow, hey I remember this! Hey, this needs fixed! OK, I remember this guy. I think I was seven when I got this. Mom, it's just like Christmas. And it WAS a little bit like a second Christmas. I discovered loads of art things which I had and forgot, and that sort of got me started again, thinking and doing things. I wrote a letter - a proper letter - and I organised my art things. Maybe I could start painting again... it was very satisfying. I discovered lots of rubbers, and lots of materials. I thought of all the wonderful, wonderful things which I could do with them and will do with them. It was extremely lovely. I was thinking that if I looked back on 2015 it was the year, that despite all those terrible tragedies on a worldwide scale, that 2015 was the year that it seemed to start working out for me - on a personal level.
I know I have neglected my friends dreadfully. I know that.
It is terrible. I hope they forgive me. If I still have any friends left.
I need to spend less time on Facebook and more time with them in real life.
The plus side, I have been messaging friends through Messenger on FB.
So the upshot of all this is I have discovered that I never need to buy anything ever again - except food. Not even toiletries at this stage. Maybe toothpaste. Well, not even toothpaste actually. We have taken to using baking soda.
I mean I look at my desk. Digital camera, Chinese inkpot, ang mo ink pot, letter holder, several very pretty folder holders, lots of paper, lots of erasers and pens and pencils, colour pencils, watercolour and pastel sets, box cutters, gift wrap for every occasion, books on a variety of subjects, this laptop., it just goes on and on. This year will be the year where I don't spend money on stuff because I have it all. I often wonder, how people end up wanting things like really expensive watches and clothes - oh yes, if I lose ten kilos this year I could fit into ALL the clothes in my wardrobe. So that is a great reason for losing 10 kgs.
So tomorrow, or rather later on today, I will go for my run, then I will clean a bit more - maybe one box or something - then I will pay a visit to friends - maybe one or two - then I will come home and do the garden if the weather is good. Oh I need to post my parcel.
So this year will really by the start of my decluttering cycle. And spending less time on FB. I promise. Anyway, I have noticed that FB makes me slightly neurotic. It makes me think that the world is a delusional place. It is either extremely bad or filled with people trying to make themselves feel better by posting super positive things. I think all that is true, but I do not have to have it shoved in my face about 2,000 times a day. I need to intersperse that feeling with real life you know.
Well, onwards and upwards. The march of the ruthless, may it continue.
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