Living Lightly

Today’s photo doesn’t look like much but I had recently cleaned out the linen closet in our main bathroom so there wasn’t much left to get rid of. I did, however, find an old electric blanket that I never use because I’m not sure I feel safe having something electric on me overnight. I also found a “rag bag” – beyond the “rag crate” in the closet. Is it possible to have too many rags? I have a rag container for each floor of our home. When there’s no more room in these containers, that’s it! I’m just going to bite the bullet and throw them out. So there! I also was ruthless with throwing away all the barrettes and hair ties I’ve collected. I’m really never going to have long hair again.

While pruning and purging the bedroom I found a number of miscellaneous things that don’t really fit any category, but need to go to a home that can use them, not just store them. I found a box of mementos from the US/Soviet Peace Camp our family did before the iron curtain fell. (I’m passing on the plastic toys.) I found electric curlers (I’m never going back to a hair style that requires them.) I found some gag gifts. (Most of my peers passed 50 awhile ago.) But alas, I then found several items that made me wince. These were high quality skirts and a suit that for some reason I had stored in Jim’s side of the closet. Hmmm. Grey isn’t my color. Let it go to someone who is a “winter.”

I’ve been out of town so I figured Halloween costumes would provide some quick and easy choices today. I probably should have chosen more, but you never know when you might need a gag costume. What you see are things that will be thrown away – the home-made pterodactyl dinosaur collar, the tie-died shirt with holes in it, the falling apart crazy hats… are not in good enough condition to give away. Fortunately I had already taken the photo when I rummaged deeper into the closet and found the hand sewn clown, lion, and witch costumes. How did I ever have time to make those?

Life is starting to interfere with my well organized plan of giving things away. Our teenage friend had a C-section a week ago which meant being with her during labor and numerous trips to bring her husband back and forth to the hospital while also trying to help him get a job. Meanwhile, my parents, who live about six hours away, are facing the health challenges normal to people in their 80’s and 90’s. I’m planning a “support the rents” trip this month. Meanwhile, our dining room ceiling is being repaired which means chaos in that part of the house. I ponder these things and remember that I’m blessed to have a car to transport people in, blessed to have my parents still alive, blessed to have a house and the money to repair a ceiling, but I’ve had to cancel meetings and rearrange my life. It seems frivolous when compared to the daily needs of those who don’t have these “luxuries.” Perhaps this “dying to self” is more of what Lent is about than giving things away, but still…
PS: If you can allow me one complaint, I can tell you that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not make it easy to get a visa. Now, that’s something to really worry about!

I used to sew. I still mend but rarely do serious sewing anymore. Guess I can throw away that zipper – I’ll never make anything that requires one again. As you can see most of the things in this photo are in the garbage can. I only saved remnants that were big enough or unique enough that I would really use them – my scraps would even challenge a quilter. The only things I’m actually giving away today are the hand sewn cloth napkins below the garbage can. (I have plenty I like better.) I decided, however, to rename the socks I thought I would darn some day as “rags.” (I kept hoping for a healthy match, but alas.) I better watch this tendency to move items from one part of the house to another though. This could be a cop-out.

I’m jumping from the bedroom to the dining room today because yesterday Jim and I had to clear everything out of the dining room in order to repair the ceiling. This interruption to my plan uncovered numerous items tucked away in corners and behind bookshelves. A room that I hadn’t considered cluttered revealed some hidden treasures but also useless items and more questions. For example, should I keep the 16 year old x-rays of my back? What about those protest signs against war, for health care reform, for church reform, and pro-life? Then there are the 101 used folders and 24 three-ring binders that I saved so I wouldn’t have to run to the store every time a child had a school project. Wait! It’s been six years since our youngest was in a local school! What you see in the photo is about ¼ of the folders/binders. Some I put into recycling, better stuff I’ll give away, some I’m just moving to a different place in the house for a later decision. I’m not sure if this is progress.

In order to save money, in the early days of our marriage I sewed a lot of simple curtains. Most of our windows are now dressed, thank you, but I still keep the fabric from previous homes and decorating stages because it’s large and flat and could be made into something else sometime. What? When?

I don’t know that the photo adequately captures the bulk of this day’s give-aways. I’ve been saving extra bedspreads for kids going away to college, setting up their first apartment, etc. Somehow they are currently settled in somewhere in the world without these items. But maybe they’ll boomerang home and need them? Susan, stop fantasizing.

Under the bed is such a handy place to store things. Out of sight, out of mind. In fact so far out of mind that I found some bed skirts that I didn’t know I had and thus had bought new ones. Mostly, however, I found a stash of purses. Some were nice but I’ve been on the search for the perfect purse for a few years (one tiny one that fits all my necessities but is the size of a wallet) and another larger one for travel (that fits file folders, a netbook, etc.) I now own my two ideal purses and really don’t need these others.

I’ve been pondering how pure my motivation should be about giving things away. I have to admit that a lot of what I’m giving away so far is rather satisfying because it’s decluttering our bedroom. It has taken some time and some cleaning, but it hasn’t really been sacrificial – at least not yet. My current policy is not to let the quest for “pure, altruistic motivation” keep me from doing something good. Just start.