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If you’ve been visiting with me for long, you know that I thrive on routines. It’s the only way I actually get anything done. My routine can and will be disrupted; but, if I have steady, doable things lined up, then they will probably get done. Eventually.
One of the new habits that I want to be more consistent with this year is getting the donations out of the house. Are you still there? I know that every time I announce one of my monthly habit builders that I lose some of you. I understand why. Normal people already know these things. In case you’re new here: Hello! My name is Tracie and I’m NOT normal. Welcome!
Decluttering isn’t an issue for me anymore. I’ve got a definite routine where that’s concerned. My problem is that all the stuff that I’ve gone through sits patiently in my house. Waiting to be taken away to be given a new life with someone else. So, for the entire month of April, every Tuesday is going to be Donate Day. If I can get this firmly entrenched in my brain, the rest of the year should be a breeze.
I learned a long time ago not to put my donations out in the garage. They will just live there. Permanently. Just off the top of my head I know that right now there are things out there that need to be taken away: a computer that we used three computers ago; a box of clothes that Liv stopped wearing in the second grade; at least two light fixtures that I replaced five or more years ago…..The list could go on and on. Out of sight is out of my mind.
Yesterday, I took the week’s donations away and it made me feel so good to get it all out of the house. I know that eventually I will get to the point where there won’t be so much to take away each week. My house stays in flux most of the time. I bring things in to try and if they don’t stay, they need to be rehomed.
Example: about six months ago on trash day I noticed that one of my neighbors had put out with their garbage a big black art piece framed with glass. Hayden has an art print by Brassaï that I got him for Christmas a few years ago and I knew that it would be the perfect frame for it. I called her up and asked if I could snatch it. She immediately said Sure! I brought it in and propped it up downstairs and forgot about it. Although I have to walk past it every day, and I would think “I need to frame his poster”, it still didn’t get done.
Fast forward a few months and Denton calls to tell me that he was building a fort of some kind downstairs using that frame as one of his “walls” when it collapsed and shattered into 9 zillion pieces. – Don’t ask, I have no idea what he was constructing or why, I think it had something to do with Batman….. – That frame and art print have sat downstairs waiting to be delivered to their new owners for weeks now. I didn’t want the art print, it was going to be donated at any rate, I just wanted the glass and frame for Hayden’s print. Sigh.
Hopefully making every Tuesday my donation day will keep my house free from all the things building up into a monster. Routines are good things: trash day in my house is Wednesday, so I take the recycle away then too. Usually. Hey, by the way, my local recycle center has started taking plastic and glass again. Glory, Hallelujah! Now we have somewhere to take all of that plastic recycle that’s been sitting in my garage. Along with the other things that need to go away.
Do you have plans to make simple changes in your life this year? I would love to hear about it! How’s it going so far?
You can find all of the posts in this series here.