we had a very productive weekend. jeremy drove the boys to meme and papa's house after breakfast saturday morning. he left our car there and brought home papa's truck so we could haul off some unneeded things from our storage/laundry room. we got a new sectional sofa two weeks ago and it's welcome into our home has brought about "the great furniture reconfiguration of 2012". my muscles are sore today from all the heavy lifting (a really great activity for sensory kids, by the way).
here's what we got rid of:
two truckloads of "stuff" to goodwill
one truckload of "stuff" to the recycling center
one truckload of "computer stuff" to the electronics recycling center
four bags of trash
sidenote:
- the computer stuff included six cpu's, one monitor, two routers, one laptop, one printer, and the biggest size rubbermaid container full of cables, wires, keyboards, speakers, etc.
- my husband is a computer hoarder.
- the list above does not include the four cpu's, two monitors, one extra large flat screen monitor, one mac, one printer, one ipad, one windows tablet and two smart phones we still currently own.
- sigh.
anyway, the furniture has been rearranged, the stuff is gone and the house is clean. i could not ask for more. here's the thing about our house - people consider it peaceful. i think it's peaceful too when two little boys are not jumping off things or flinging things or swinging from things or running around things or climbing on things or hitting things...so i guess what i'm saying is that i don't really think it's all that peaceful.
BUT, i think the reason THEY feel it's peaceful is because we don't have much clutter.
clutter kills me. it sucks the energy right out of me. it makes me feel claustrophobic and panicky. yes, i do realize i'm a wee bit hypersensitive to clutter. hmmmm, hypersensitive. there's that word again.
so i do try to keep a tidy home but it's not solely for my sanity, it's also because we just don't have much storage space. our home is 1700 square feet. that may seem small to some or large to others but i would say it's just about right for us. i'm very content here.
another sidenote:
- i just introduced the boys to the word content as part of We Choose Virtues.
- the card reads "i am content. i have my "wanter" under control. i am not bored or greedy or always wanting more and i don't beg or whine."
- isn't that great?!
- perfect timing just before Christmas
- and, really, it's just perfect for life in general.
as i was saying, i am content here. i cannot picture our lives happening any place else. but part of living here is that we just don't have room for lots of extra stuff. and i'm learning that simple is better.
less is really is more.
i've been attracted recently to these blogs and this book and this book, which have left a deep impression on my heart with regard to how i live this life. am i just filling up my home, my heart, my time with things of lesser value? or am i being FULfilled by things of greater worth?
at this stage i can safely say it's a combination of both. sure, we completed a good environmental clean-out this weekend but that's not the issue i struggle with most. (although i still have some work to do inside my cabinets. please, people, don't look inside my cabinets! surface clutter = A+. cabinet clutter = D). what's harder for me to concentrate on is the work that needs to be done in my heart and with my time. does my heart need a good cleaning? does my schedule need an overhaul? am i truly being fulfilled? am i helping others to feel the same? am i wasting my time? am i focusing on what's of value?
at least i'm willing to ask the questions.
now if i could just get jer to ask some tough questions about all those computers.
