DAY 12 of 50 – Clearing out the Past

A few recent projects have created a small pile of debris in the driveway, just waiting for a Dump Run. As I walked past the pile yesterday, other items from around the house leapt to mind – other things I am ready to be rid of.

   Growing up in California, only a few minutes from Berkeley, there were quite a few “Granola-types” in my early life. You know the type – those who take old car parts and make an art piece in their yard, or those who save old tin cans to plant flowers in for their windowsill. And being the child of Depression Era parents, I still struggle with throwing away a “perfectly good” jar.

   I consider myself a Recycler. I have two bins in my kitchen and use both. I save food scraps for the puppies instead of the disposal. I take care of things and repair them instead of just rushing out to buy the latest and greatest.

   But a few weeks ago I was teasingly called a “Hoarder” (gasp!), and although I know it was meant as a joke it also got me thinking. I’ve never been much of a housekeeper, and for most of the past 20 years I mostly had to carry two jobs to make ends meet – which left little time for cleaning. I can stay on top of the dishes and laundry, but sometimes just barely. And lately it seems like I am only home long enough to eat, shower, and sleep.

   But I am incredibly blessed to have a beautiful home to live in. Over the years I have collected some spectacular pieces with which to decorate my home. Pieces inherited from family, brought home from vacations, gifts from friends — each with special meaning to me. But too I have collected random pieces, many I can’t even remember where or why — and that don’t contribute to making my beautiful house a home. And as I walked around this evening, I decided that it was definitely time to clear some things out — to keep, and even highlight, the pieces that mean the very most to me — and to pass the rest of it along.

   I occasionally watch Hoarders (on Netflix) – and it usually makes me feel better about my homemaking abilities. I mean, I’m not a Crazy Cat Lady nor do I have 17 cars in my yard. But I do have a dozen empty jars, a stack of empty cottage cheese containers, and quite a few other “useful someday” items around and about.

   Or I did … until tonight. Sometimes I get into one of those “Get Rid of It” moods – and when that happens I have plenty to do. After a few hours at it, there were an even bigger pile to run to the dump, a decent stack for Habitat for Humanity, and a number of bags & boxes for D.I.

   And I also have a lighter load in my life. Instead of all the things I “intended” to do, with them hanging around as constant reminders that I still hadn’t done them, I now have a clean slate – or at least a cleaner slate.

   It’s about clearing out the parts of my past that are behind me. And more importantly – about clearing room for the amazing things still ahead of me. Because as great as my life has been so far, still more terrific things are in the works. With “50” only a few weeks away, I truly feel that the best of my life is still to come.