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January 5, 2012
Wow, reorganizing the crap in my house got done just in time. This is my first week on the new job and honey, work has been insane! But I am holding it together because at the end of every day, I am collapsing in a home that has a sense of order.
Now the question is….can I balance work and personal life over the long term?
I’ll admit, I only made dinner twice this week. And the newspapers are starting to pile up again next to my bed. Oh well, no point in beating up on myself because the good news is that getting reorganized has given me new coping tools:
- I can’t thank Alyson Stanfield enough for her “Getting Organized” online class. This $97, three-week gem offered such a wealth of useful material. Like this week, I’m really vibing with her advice to keep my daily to-do list at 10 items or less. A long list only means that nothing will get done, which would leave me defeated — and I’m not going there. :)
- You all have made such a difference! Thank you for your wise comments and words of encouragement on my first blog post about cleaning up, “Making Room for Change.” The support inspired me to keep on letting go. Here’s what you’ve helped me to accomplish…
This fall, my closet was scary. I couldn’t find anything. But last week, I really put things away. Now I don’t have to keep wearing the same old clothes every day. :)
Look at all the records I was saving for my tax returns. If I was better organized, most of this paper would’ve been unnecessary. By the time I finished sorting, the sun had set on me & the dog. Effort was worth it! Now my records are reduced to the tidy stack on the bench. The shopping bag of paper is going to the shredder.
What a relief — my physical environment is now functioning in a way that is more supportive of my life. After going at this for a few weeks, I’ve realized that there’s been a pattern to my reorganization:
I’ve gone from examining my physical environment to eyeballing the less visible messes. Organizing my laptop & online world cleared a lot of the static in my head.
Stripping down to essentials has even affected my painting. Even though I usually crave colorful still life arrangements, I found myself increasingly drawn to white. Last year ended in total deconstruction. All I wanted to do was paint white blocks:
The more I looked at white objects, the more I could see nuances. Painting on a sunny day in an art studio with skylights brought a blueness down on this still life study. Then from the right side, a lamp was shining bright in a way that created an orange-y glow. Would I have been able to see any of this color if I was my old cluttered self? Hmmm.
With this reorganized vision for daily living, I’m feeling stronger at my core. There’s a sense of readiness now. I’ve got room for the new. :)
