a couple weeks ago, when my nephew visited, i had occasion to go down to the basement, an area i've been avoiding for months. you see, it's a royal mess. no, an epic mess. in fact, the best word to describe it would be "overwhelming."
it's still a disaster from last summer's water leak. water came in through the walls and soaked one end of the basement, complete with mold. (yuck!) i lost a couple cabinets and everything was stacked in various places wherever it could fit. and i've never gone and put it all back together. plus i had too much stuff – and too much disorganization – even before that. i even have some stuff from two moves ago. (yes, i am aware of the adage that if you haven't used it you don't need it.)
the thing is, in addition to monumental lack of motivation, i don't even know where to start. there are so, so many stacks of things and boxes and bins and piles. it seems an impossible task and i'm scared of the whole thing.
plus there's the equally disorganized (though slightly less cluttered) office to go through.
i know i have to eliminate, eliminate, eliminate (and organize). i want less stuff, and particularly less junk, but i am the queen of keeping things. for the sake of not embarrassing myself too horribly here, i will refrain from giving examples. but combine sentimental with lazy and you can begin to imagine the problem.
am i really going to get rid of everything? well i'd like to get as close as possible, but in reality i keep vacillating between "get rid of it ALL" and "well, i should keep this and this and this." i know i'll need to have a storage unit, and there are things i really like and/or would have a tough time (or a lot of expense) replacing, not to mention things of personal value. but if i aim to live out of two suitcases for 27 months, then i can certainly do without 90% of what i have in my house. right?
my plan is to start going through stuff and begin to separate "keep" and "get rid of." but things are such a mess i don't even have a clean space to start sorting stuff, never mind separating into keep-store, keep-need-access-to, try to sell, donate, give away. i've got to start simply with just keep and get rid of, and slowly try to get rid of as much as possible. once i start getting rid of stuff, then i can re-evaluate what i'm "keeping" to see what else i can remove. but this could be a full-time job for months. and it's completely overwhelming. if only my mother, the queen of tag sales and ebay, lived nearby to help.
so i'm hoping that posting my intentions to get started here will make me go through with it when i have some days off during the july 4th week.
in the meantime, anyone need some office supplies?
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