It's time to go, this-old-house, 215/365

On August 20, 2012 I started this blog. My idea was to get rid of something every day that year, and write about it. What a crazy goal but I did pretty well and over the years posts have come and gone.

      My husband and I continue to get rid of stuff to keep this old house from overflowing with treasures from 54 years of marriage. We’ve rented a couple of dumpsters, given stuff to our kids and the church fair, and carted off treasures to Goodwill and the town dump/put-and-take.

    Now we are at it again in earnest--serious earnestness. With our birthdays catapulting us smack into our late 70s, we figure it’s time to move from this old house of forty years to a condo. We figure a condo will give us the independence we love, and should definitely be easier to maintain than this old house. If nothing else, we won’t be dealing with steep stairs all the time, and the kitchen pipes won’t freeze.  

      Case in point. Today, on my 78^th birthday I am still agile enough to carry dishes to the upstairs bathroom sink to wash them, and I have faith that Jim and I will be able to do so for the next two weeks until this New England freeze runs it 

course.  

   

 So, we’re back, letting go of stuff. Stay tuned. I'm more than half way to 365 days of purging. 

 (Those are dishes and a pitcher of water at the top of the stairs.)

It’s time to go, thirty-five year old carpet 214/365

     Today is the big simplifying day. We’ve cleared the bedroom and are now waiting for Handyman Russ to arrive to remove the carpet, and sand and stain the floors. We’re still asking that same question, as we pretend we are moving immediately (which we are not): “Are we taking this with us?”  

     The biggest challenge at the moment is deciding about the pictures on the walls. The paintings are easy—we’re taking them. But what about the prints of advertisements from magazines, or the millions of photographs of this and that? This is where my husband is not ready to ask the ultimate question.

     Regardless, life already feels simpler and the energy to get rid of more stuff remains intense. Nothing like getting rid of a yucky carpet, only to find hardwood oak underneath!

It’s time to go, paperclips in the desk 213/365

     The purge is on big time. Not just paperclips but all kinds of desk stuff we haven’t used in years. Really, how many thumbtacks does one need? Maybe none. Then there are greeting cards, envelopes, old calendars, dried up glue sticks... the list gets boring.

    How do we know what gets thrown away or taken to the put-and-take? Easy question: If we were moving, would be take it? Put another way, we make decisions by pretending we are moving, although that is not on our immediate horizon.  

It’s time to go, more books on the shelf 212/365

     We are getting ready for a major purge in our bedroom, which really is two rooms. Scuppers was sick when we grandpet sat last week, and we realized how long we've had the wall to wall carpet. So we're going to take it up and work with hardwood floors and a few area rugs. This will entail getting rid of stuff--LOTS of stuff. We think we'll get a dumpster. I feel energized about this because I don't want to be stuck with one or both of us unable to clear out when the time comes.

    This is ended up primarily being a book purge; many New Age—past lives, astrology, ‘para’ this and that. Just the thing for someone at the put-and-take. Fewer books means fewer shelves; so far we’ve emptied four.

       Passing these books on to interested readers opens up simplicity, which is one of the goals in getting rid of stuff. When we decide to move, we will have already done some downsizing. If we stay here forever, what a BIG help it will be to our kids. In letting go of all those ‘para’ books, I have released all obligations to pursue the topics. Simplicity on the material, physical plane; simplicity on the psychological, spiritual plane.

     A revised form of this post is on my www.acottagebythesea blog, which is all about my longing for silence, solitude and simplicity.