The bare essentials

When you ask me what I do on the weekends, a most common answer you'll get is "clearing up my house."  I have so many things and belongings lying around the house and it is forever in a state of clutter. I never seem to be able to get it to be as clean as I want it to be.  I want the house to be clean like a hotel room.

Bare except for a few essentials.

That's my ultimate goal, but for as long as I can remember, I am forever "clearing up" my junk.   I spend hours on end clearing out magazines, advertisements sent through the mail, and sorting through the piles of paper.

I line the books up on my self, all categorized.  Everything has its own place.

Nevertheless, I have so much that if you tried to add anything new, there wouldn't be any space for it.  It'd be lying out on the table or perhaps sit quietly in a corner.   I have things neatly hidden away from the eye. In drawers and boxes.

The question is:  who doesn't accumulate new things?

Everyday we accumulate something new.  Whether it's new mail, gifts from friends, or new little knicks or knacks we spot and just have to buy.   That cute little one-of-a-kind porcelein doll that would look lovely on a side table, or that handpainted box.  Perhaps its a new gadget for the kitchen or a new mug that was so cute.
 
My dilemma is I don't like to throw away things that are still in good condition. I keep things so well, believe it or not, I still have my tin box of colored pencils and markers from grade 4, the origami packs of paper from grade 6, and the watercolour sets from highschool.  Everything is still in usable condition and I still use them everynow and then.

I have the old hair dryer that is so old, I don't use, but I don't throw away.  I have the old APS camera that no one uses anymore, and the polaroid camera that I haven't touched in years.  I'd Ebay them, but I wonder if they'd sell.  Perhaps this weekend I'll just take a deep breath and throw everything out.

I am starting to feel overwhelmed from all my accumulated assets over the past three decades.   A great way to think about clearing up junk is to do it Alex's way.  He told me one day, instead of using up my weekends debating what to keep or throw away, why don't I just take a picture of things I think I'd miss! That way, I'd save space and still be able to look at the object when I miss it !!!!

Funny isn't he? :)  Perhaps I should seriously do that :D

I still got a long way to go before I reach the bare essentials. What about you?  How do you cope with all the clutter?  I donate and throw, but it's still not good enough :(

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