Wednesday, January 7, 2015

More Advice On Clearing Space

Getting rid of too much stuff is a really good thing to do.  It helps with the whole feng shui mood, and it keeps your home or office more spacious, organized, clean and workable.  It makes finding things easier.
 
The hardest thing for me to part with at times is clothing.  There are many blogs on this whole minimalist movement, but I have an accumulation of ideas from experience and research, as well as years of living in a small home.

Sometimes not having so many little containers for small odds and ends, but rather just putting them in a small drawer is a better idea.  I ended up with clear dresser drawers, which I could put in the living room for tools, flashlights, etc., because I got rid of so many junky clothes I owned.  Well, they were not necessarily all junky, but either too cheap, too trendy, too small, too big, too worn out, or I just did not like it any longer, not to mention the bad memory things, as well as things from other eras of my life.  Still, sentimentality certainly has a place.  I owned a navy hoodie sweatshirt from the time I was thirteen until I was about thirty-six, and it was covered with paint and holes, and really short from shrinkage.

One thing you can do to keep from accumulating too many clothes is to not have too many hangers.  This is a method I learned online like many other things.  Throw out stuff with holes and permanent stains, although I still believe in the art of darning socks, which are hard to find good quality in.  My sister darned mine, because my eyes are so bad I cannot see the thread.  Sewing is hard for me, but believe it or not, blind people do sew.

One thing I suggest not cluttering with is batteries.  After seeing this blog about a guy's house that burned down because of recycling 9volt batteries that you put in a smoke detector and how you should cover the receptors with electric tape before disposing, I really suggest not hoarding batteries or anything for that matter.

I think replacing things is a good practice.  I recently got a new welcome mat, as well as a new rug for wiping your feet on the inside.  My younger son and I re-carpeted a room last summer for my other son, so I do believe in replacing things. 

Back to clothing, you know you got rid of stuff you needed to when you cannot even really remember what they were.  Sometimes I miss stuff, and I am more thoughtful about it for that reason now.  After all, clothing are a bit expensive these days, though I suppose they were more scarce and relatively more expensive when I was a kid.  We did not have much then in terms of clothing.  Then I was in the clothing retail business when I was young in the eighties (nineteen and twenty I mean), and I think that is when clothes were getting more affordable.  That is until I lived in L.A. for three years where everything was more expensive, but most of my life has been spent on the southeast coast.

I will be writing more soon about the problem of keeping an uncluttered environment, unless I find some new interest.  One thing I have noticed is how attractive things look when organized and clear.  It is also a lot easier to clean when surfaces are clear.  Getting rid of out of date medicine and cosmetics as well as vitamins is a good way to clear bathroom and kitchen space as well.

Now we have a light and clear space where chakras can get into alignment, and we have more room for yoga and dancing, even playing music, more room for joy, just being joyous.  Namaste.