It was horrible. It was awful.
...it happens every few months.
I get a good look at the room I share with my two sisters, and realize I've been living in a dump. This moment of horrified realization is usually followed by the sisters responsible for the largest share of the mess being kicked unceremoniously from the room. Which in turn is followed by a mass exodus of what I call "junk" and they call "I WANNA KEEP IT!"
This pile is usually comprised of one part kid's meal toys, one part clothing that no longer fits, three parts toys that haven't been found - let alone played with - for a full month, and two parts trash. Once this stuff is in various bags, waiting to be removed, my sisters begin recovery. And by "recovery" I don't mean "getting over the fact that the room is clean." I mean, they start digging through the bags of stuff that is leaving the house, and trying to find the things they want to keep. You know, the things that they haven't seen for a month and have, apparently, been desperately searching for the whole time.
I spent several hours cleaning all of that up, and there's still stuff to do. But while I was cleaning, something struck me, in between bouts of chasing off siblings and hiding various items I wanted out of the house.
While getting rid of the clutter that had accumulated, and dealing with my sisters wanting to keep every gum wrapper and popsicle stick, I realized that most people have the same problem.
They don't want anything to be gotten rid of.
Their past is still there, clinging in the corners. Memories, past hurts. Or, almost as bad, good memories that they can't let go of to find peace or happiness in their current situation. They hang onto them, refusing to let them go out of fear they'll forget - or that they'll never have ones as good ever again.
Just like people who think that empty plastic peanut butter jars might be "needed" at some point in, oh, ten years, these memories might serve some purpose further on. But it's not worth carrying them around for ten years waiting for that moment. Not if it's going to clutter your mind, your emotional state, your relationships, or your cabinets. It's just not worth it. Surely you'll get another jar of peanut butter in the future.
If it's making your life difficult, or just cluttering things up, then it's time to reevaluate your priorities.
Are you going to keep the cheap plastic Happy Meal toy, or are you going to keep the glass figurine your grandmother gave to you? That spot can only hold one item, and you'd better make sure that item is worth the space you're giving it.
Yeah, you should keep your good memories. But holding onto them like the peanut butter jars, after they're no longer relevant, and giving them space that could be used to store more good memories - how is that a good idea? Get rid of the peanut butter jars (or the popsicle sticks, or the...) and use that space for something that's really worth having.
As valuable as good memories are, they're memories. Pulling them out and playing like they're the present isn't going to help you make new memories. You'll be so busy admiring the ones you've already got that you won't have as much room for new ones. And, unlike the peanut butter jars and popsicle sticks, getting rid of them doesn't mean you'll never see them again. You just remove them from constant perusal so you're free to do other things. You can always pull them out again later.
But, for the most part, the good memories are like the glass figurine. Things worth keeping out in the open, where you can look at them. Some memories, though, need to go away, like my sister's too-small shoes that she wanted to keep. They serve no purpose, and only keep you from enjoying the things that are really important. Like shoes that actually fit.
Keeping everything leads to a cluttered, busy, crazy, cramped life. I don't know about anyone else, but seeing all the feathers vacuumed off my floor was nice. (A certain sister's pillow has a hole in it somewhere.) It was also nice to be able to see the surfaces that had been crammed with junk only this morning. But to see those places, I had to get rid of the stuff in the way.
When those things (feathers, half-full bottles of bubbles) were gone, I could finally see the things I really wanted to see. Like the desktop, the books...the floor. I could also see the really pretty things that I did want to keep, and the higher-quality things I knew my sisters would want later. By removing the junk and the cheap things, the nice things were more obvious and clear. They didn't have to compete with piles of paper, doll clothes, and legos.
So get rid of the things cluttering your life and mind.
Don't dwell on those things. Clear them out.
And don't peek inside the bags. ;)
I get a good look at the room I share with my two sisters, and realize I've been living in a dump. This moment of horrified realization is usually followed by the sisters responsible for the largest share of the mess being kicked unceremoniously from the room. Which in turn is followed by a mass exodus of what I call "junk" and they call "I WANNA KEEP IT!"
This pile is usually comprised of one part kid's meal toys, one part clothing that no longer fits, three parts toys that haven't been found - let alone played with - for a full month, and two parts trash. Once this stuff is in various bags, waiting to be removed, my sisters begin recovery. And by "recovery" I don't mean "getting over the fact that the room is clean." I mean, they start digging through the bags of stuff that is leaving the house, and trying to find the things they want to keep. You know, the things that they haven't seen for a month and have, apparently, been desperately searching for the whole time.
I spent several hours cleaning all of that up, and there's still stuff to do. But while I was cleaning, something struck me, in between bouts of chasing off siblings and hiding various items I wanted out of the house.
While getting rid of the clutter that had accumulated, and dealing with my sisters wanting to keep every gum wrapper and popsicle stick, I realized that most people have the same problem.
They don't want anything to be gotten rid of.
Their past is still there, clinging in the corners. Memories, past hurts. Or, almost as bad, good memories that they can't let go of to find peace or happiness in their current situation. They hang onto them, refusing to let them go out of fear they'll forget - or that they'll never have ones as good ever again.
Just like people who think that empty plastic peanut butter jars might be "needed" at some point in, oh, ten years, these memories might serve some purpose further on. But it's not worth carrying them around for ten years waiting for that moment. Not if it's going to clutter your mind, your emotional state, your relationships, or your cabinets. It's just not worth it. Surely you'll get another jar of peanut butter in the future.
If it's making your life difficult, or just cluttering things up, then it's time to reevaluate your priorities.
Are you going to keep the cheap plastic Happy Meal toy, or are you going to keep the glass figurine your grandmother gave to you? That spot can only hold one item, and you'd better make sure that item is worth the space you're giving it.
Yeah, you should keep your good memories. But holding onto them like the peanut butter jars, after they're no longer relevant, and giving them space that could be used to store more good memories - how is that a good idea? Get rid of the peanut butter jars (or the popsicle sticks, or the...) and use that space for something that's really worth having.
As valuable as good memories are, they're memories. Pulling them out and playing like they're the present isn't going to help you make new memories. You'll be so busy admiring the ones you've already got that you won't have as much room for new ones. And, unlike the peanut butter jars and popsicle sticks, getting rid of them doesn't mean you'll never see them again. You just remove them from constant perusal so you're free to do other things. You can always pull them out again later.
But, for the most part, the good memories are like the glass figurine. Things worth keeping out in the open, where you can look at them. Some memories, though, need to go away, like my sister's too-small shoes that she wanted to keep. They serve no purpose, and only keep you from enjoying the things that are really important. Like shoes that actually fit.
Keeping everything leads to a cluttered, busy, crazy, cramped life. I don't know about anyone else, but seeing all the feathers vacuumed off my floor was nice. (A certain sister's pillow has a hole in it somewhere.) It was also nice to be able to see the surfaces that had been crammed with junk only this morning. But to see those places, I had to get rid of the stuff in the way.
When those things (feathers, half-full bottles of bubbles) were gone, I could finally see the things I really wanted to see. Like the desktop, the books...the floor. I could also see the really pretty things that I did want to keep, and the higher-quality things I knew my sisters would want later. By removing the junk and the cheap things, the nice things were more obvious and clear. They didn't have to compete with piles of paper, doll clothes, and legos.
So get rid of the things cluttering your life and mind.
Don't dwell on those things. Clear them out.
And don't peek inside the bags. ;)
No comments have been added yet.
