De-Cluttering Update

Well, I have a shiny sink (most days). My counters are relatively clutter free and I’m loving actually having counter space to work on. I wasn’t able to part with the paint can turned Halloween can or the cool Russian wine bottle. The can is actually quite good at holding pencils and pens. I plan to incorporate the bottle into decorating. Somewhere. Somehow. It really is cool.

My next task was to be the dining room, but this week has been primarily working to maintain my kitchen cleanliness.

The table will be my biggest challenge in the dining room. One corner is filled with our daughter’s art projects and paraphernalia. Another corner is Halloween candy. Yes, Halloween candy. And my rice cooker. You see, I didn’t have room on the counters to put it in the kitchen, so I put it on the corner of the dining table near an outlet. I suppose I can put it back in the kitchen now. Novel idea, huh?  Then the other half is primarily mail and crap that needs to be shredded or tossed.

One question comes to mind as I work on these things: How does this tie into More 2 This Life? Is my de-cluttering and cleaning basically the same thing as just trying to make it through the day, same old same old? Perhaps on some level, yes. But I also believe that if my home is clean, tidy, peaceful, etc. then we’ll feel that way when we’re at home. How many sayings have you heard regarding one’s home? Here are a few I found:

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. (John Howard Payne)

He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. (van Goethe)

Home is the most popular, and will be the most enduring of all earthly establishments. (Channing Pollock)

I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles. (Zig Ziglar)

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. (Jane Austen)

I think the best thing I can do is to be a distraction. A husband lives and breathes his work all day long. If he comes home to more table thumping, how can the poor man ever relax? (Jackie Kennedy)

Now I realize that last quote will likely trigger some feelings about women being oppressed and all that not-so-good stuff, but that’s another post. I also believe that Ziglar’s quote refers to more than just the physical state of the home, but that’s maybe another post one day too. The bottom line is that all of these quotes describe the home as a place to get away, find peace, find comfort, find distraction from work, a place that you can go and just be yourself and not worry. Do you really believe you can find all that in the midst of clutter? I can’t. I may enjoy sitting and doing nothing for a bit, but the chaos will eventually get to me.

Having a place you can come into and be comfortable, be at peace, and just be yourself – THAT, to me, is an important part to an abundant life.

And that’s how all this de-cluttering fits into finding More 2 This Life.