Monday, January 12, 2009

Junk

I have a lot of junk. A lot. This isn't even my junk, I even take pictures of junk...
Remember the old Paul McCartney song about junk?

The chorus went something like
Buy!
Buy!
says the sign in the shop window...
Why?
says the junk in the yard.


This week, I am getting rid of junk.
Lots of junk, externally and internally.
I am cleaning out the spare bedroom and am realizing that I have held on to almost every thing I have touched in the last 3 years.
I am realizing that it's okay to throw out something...even if I may want it again someday.
I am letting go (well working on it) of all the things I don't need anymore. Attitudes, regrets, hurt feelings, pieces of rusty somethings that crumble when I touch them and snippets of conversations, ribbon, used up crayons and thoughts that are not productive... they are all going.
I am making way for new "things." Acceptance, trust, light, maybe a new crayon or two. But I will be more careful in what I let in. Do I need it? love it? want to hold on to it for the right reason? will it be a burden at some point?
I do like my stuff, all of it. But it's time. I am not unhappy, just the opposite. I am open. Ready to be brave.

John F Kennedy said: "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."

Grace in small things:
1. The perfect breakfast burrito
2. With 2 kinds of salsa
3. Extra sturdy trash bags
4. Not crying each and every time I run across something of Donnie's
5. Finding an old journal where I listed 5 things I was grateful for everyday...from 1997 perhaps I'll share some?

10 comments:

moongipsies said...

awesome. You are loved.

Chris said...

oh, my. Are we in sync or what? My partner and I are getting rid of things decades old, things we forgot we had and once loved, or can't release because it stands for something else, and sometimes we overcome attachment and sometimes we have to give in. But we will always have our loved ones, and the people who helped us change, and the things we did that got inside us, and the junk we have can't keep those things with us or take them away.

xox

A.Smith said...

Out with the things that just take space and make space to create and to hold more than things. It must be in the air, we are who we are not what we have, what we have may represent one molecule of our entire being and that should never be enough to define us. To say "she has good taste" is not the same as saying "she is a great human being". So here is to great human beings, you one among them. Hugs from here.

Umā said...

i love junk too, especially photos of junk since they don't take up as much room as the actual junk! i've been working on a similar project at my house - going through the attic and eliminating as much as i can bear to part with. i have a ways to go, but it feels good. lighter.

studioJudith said...

There's a basic feng shui belief that we must toss out the old (specificaly - declutter) to make room for that which we hope to attract.
Keep tossing! JJjjj

Anonymous said...

I am a hoarder myself, but I've realized that once I get rid of stuff I swear I'll need not today but someday ... I end up never remembering what it was and having no recollection of it later. So I say out with the old as well. There is rarely anything worth holding onto unless it holds some sentimental value or has a definite purpose.

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading :)

Unknown said...

As you know, I have been purging too....the only problem?? I seem to be gathering MORE for the new space...WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!!

love the pile of bikes :)

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

Thank you. I need to follow your example. I seem to not be able to just get going on these things. I am so ready to lighten the load. I like your giving yourself permission to let go of something even if you might want it again someday.

paris parfait said...

Must be a New Year's phenomenon - I'm on a mad decluttering tear as well. Love breakfast burritos - how I miss them! xoxox

christina said...

This "junk" made for great pictures! ; )