Today is the official "Lighten The Load" day at my house. It was time to clean out all the things I no longer use, or wear or need and send them to the Goodwill where they can find a new home.
I started in the closet. It's packed with more clothes than I can wear, yet it's a struggle to put much on the pile. I might need that chartreuse T shirt with a hole in the armpit that I haven't wore in five years and I can't part with it. Yet that someday is never going to come and I know it. Neither is sewing up the hole. I found three pairs of hiking boots and I'm really not much of a hiker. The last time those boots did any serious hiking was twelve years ago when I hiked out of the Grand Canyon. That hike changed my life forever, but almost killed me in the process. So when I noticed a pair of boots still had the red clay of the Grand Canyon imbedded in the soul, they immediately went back on the shelf and the other two pair went into the pile.
It didn't take long to come to a standstill in the closet. I moved on to my office with shelves and shelves of my beloved books. The task I faced here was even more daunting than purging a few old pairs of jeans. My books. I love my books. I haven't read "Tales of Aladdin", "Rascal" or "The Little Prince" in probably forty years but I can't bear to part with them. They were among my first books, carefully selected at the annual book fair held in the school gymnasium when I was eight years old. I gently stroked the covers and put them back in their place.
Moving to the next shelf, I thumbed through my collection of books on reiki before coming to several autographed titles. I have one entire shelf of novels by Thomas Wolfe. He was my step mother's cousin. The old, worn, first edition books have found their way here. Nothing on these shelves is leaving anytime soon.
Desperate to add at least something to the contributions, I found a John Irving novel, that I enjoyed but no longer had any special attachment to or desire to read again. I carefully folded the clothes and put them in a plastic garbage bag setting the lone book on top.
I looked at the half full bag and put it in the back of my car for its trip to Goodwill. I hadn't made really any extra space inside but I'd made an effort. Thank goodness for my Kindle. It's rare that I buy actual books any more, much preferring the digital kind. They take up much less space. Plus it allows me to cherish the old books I have and not crowd them with new purchases.
The clothes in the closet, however are a totally different kind of story. "Lighten the Load Day" is going to have to become official at least once a month. Once a year is just not going to cut it, but I can skip cleaning the office. Nothing in there, is going anywhere.
I started in the closet. It's packed with more clothes than I can wear, yet it's a struggle to put much on the pile. I might need that chartreuse T shirt with a hole in the armpit that I haven't wore in five years and I can't part with it. Yet that someday is never going to come and I know it. Neither is sewing up the hole. I found three pairs of hiking boots and I'm really not much of a hiker. The last time those boots did any serious hiking was twelve years ago when I hiked out of the Grand Canyon. That hike changed my life forever, but almost killed me in the process. So when I noticed a pair of boots still had the red clay of the Grand Canyon imbedded in the soul, they immediately went back on the shelf and the other two pair went into the pile.
It didn't take long to come to a standstill in the closet. I moved on to my office with shelves and shelves of my beloved books. The task I faced here was even more daunting than purging a few old pairs of jeans. My books. I love my books. I haven't read "Tales of Aladdin", "Rascal" or "The Little Prince" in probably forty years but I can't bear to part with them. They were among my first books, carefully selected at the annual book fair held in the school gymnasium when I was eight years old. I gently stroked the covers and put them back in their place.
Moving to the next shelf, I thumbed through my collection of books on reiki before coming to several autographed titles. I have one entire shelf of novels by Thomas Wolfe. He was my step mother's cousin. The old, worn, first edition books have found their way here. Nothing on these shelves is leaving anytime soon.
Desperate to add at least something to the contributions, I found a John Irving novel, that I enjoyed but no longer had any special attachment to or desire to read again. I carefully folded the clothes and put them in a plastic garbage bag setting the lone book on top.
I looked at the half full bag and put it in the back of my car for its trip to Goodwill. I hadn't made really any extra space inside but I'd made an effort. Thank goodness for my Kindle. It's rare that I buy actual books any more, much preferring the digital kind. They take up much less space. Plus it allows me to cherish the old books I have and not crowd them with new purchases.
The clothes in the closet, however are a totally different kind of story. "Lighten the Load Day" is going to have to become official at least once a month. Once a year is just not going to cut it, but I can skip cleaning the office. Nothing in there, is going anywhere.
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