March 6. 2015
Finances are now decluttered.
I’ve always prided myself in the way I organize my finances, pay my bills, afford things. But even the best system degrades over time. I don’t have any delusions of grandeur – I just want to be able to afford my life. I cannot compete with Donald Trump, but I put myself on a kind of a spectrum and I think I’m O.K.
I moved some money around, paid some bills, charted the next few months, and then went out with some friends for drinks and met my daughter and her friends for dinner and Flamenco, which is always my favorite way to spend a Friday night.
What I am finding about the 40 Bags is that for every decluttering effort there is a reciprocal added value. Take the drek out, clear the stuff out of the way, and you find yourself. The stuff really does weigh you down. I’m going to take on the second shelf of my music library tomorrow with the goal of finishing the tossing part by Sunday night so I can then focus on the giving away part. And when that’s done, I can have cleared and cleaned shelves and finally, some space.
I’m not a hoarder and in fact, I always have very little clutter, so this challenge has been, well, a challenge. But I know that I can replace most of my VHS tapes with DVDs or Hulu and Netflix and when I’m done clearing out my music, I can sleep better knowing I’ve shipped off the good stuff to friends who teach. The whole process has been illuminating, liberating, and instructional. Stuff goes out, goes away – and what’s left has real meaning.
There’s this wonderful woman in Japan who says to empty out your closet and not keep any clothes that don’t spark joy. I want to find that joyful spark everywhere, and I am confident now that I can do it. I will be celebrating with chocolate marshmallow Easter eggs.
The Backpack Press 