New readers start here, to quote ancient magazine serials. Since I'm hoping to put this house on the market in the next couple of years, and move to a rented condo, yet to be found, but preferably ground floor overlooking anything but a parking lot, and not in an old folks place, things have to happen.
It's probably not a coincidence that my art career is moving away from painting, drawing, printmaking, largely into fiber arts. I'm at a general crossroads. Changing work projects, home, moving on to new skills, all seem to go together.
My ambition is to reduce the contents of the house gradually to just what I want to move with. Better to do it in stages than in a stressed out rush.
The studio is the hardest, so much good material, paper particularly, framed works galore. And changing media leaves a great moraine of materials from the previous medium.
So here we are:
Awaiting Handsome Son's assistance in carrying down two flights are four categories, garbage (small) thriftie (to be bigger) recycle (biggest) and donation to younger artists, which might be collapsed into thriftie if no takers.
Note: the garbage bags are just for transportation. The contents will be dumped into appropriate places, the bags home again where possible. Trying not to add plastic to the waste stream.
And just to encourage myself, here's the result of the deciding and hauling:
This worktop was a solid mass of fabric scraps, now become a single manageable crateful. And the containers cluttering the windowsill, gone, too.
This area had almost disappeared under a mountain of paper and cardboard, now reduced to items I will use. The surfaces you see were buried.
Everywhere I look people are doing this. Possibly a national self care movement, in view of the dismal political state of affairs.
Anyway, it's therapeutic, not least because it unclogs your creative flow when you can find what you need. And have room to work. It's always the work surfaces that vanish first.
And looking further ahead, it will simplify the stresses of selling and renting.
At least that's the plan. Pot of tea next, and bread baking since I am, shock, horror, Out of Bread.
I hear what you're doing, I do the same periodically when there is no longer room at my computer table for me AND the cat and a coffee cup--but whenever I start digging through stuff, there are new things to think about, new ideas, as in, 'oh, hey, I remember THAT..." and Im off and running.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I suspect you have more self control.
And you're wise to do it that way. This house will belong to my husband's cousin, when we depart (one way or the other), so my focus is on getting rid of what I KNOW they will pitch, no matter how sacred it seems to me/us, and the stuff I can portion out between the Salvation Army, used book stores, and thrift shops.
Aging bites, don't it.
The pressure I feel to get this done is to avoid leaving my son with the overwhelming task if not only emptying, but selling this property. It will be enough for him to deal with my death, though he was at every step of his father's rites, but selling real estate would be just too much for his ability. Do I'm simplifying his life, too!
DeleteI'm going to try to make no scratch that I *will* make getting my house in order a priority this year. It's always last on the list of Things Worth My Limited Energy, but at the same time, I have been feeling overwhelmed and immobilized by the disarray. So...time to make a workable plan, create a functional method, get some momentum building...whatever it takes. My Occasional Helper is willing to help with the house stuff, but he has so little time that I have to make *his* priority the tasks that he can do the way I did them 20 years ago (hauling hay, unloading sacks of feed, etc.) and which are now done in little increments that take ages if I do them myself. He can sometimes manage to add an hour here and there, but I really need a couple of hours every couple of days until the whole house is sorted. Oh well, I'll get started somehow and then I'll keep going somehow and somehow it will get done because it must be done!
ReplyDeleteThink of it like Ruth Stout's Square Foot Gardening! Little bites might help. My neighbor, trying to redecorate an entire house, found she did better getting one little bit completely done, so she could see results, after trying all the baseboards then all the windows, etc, where she was in despair at seeing no progress.
ReplyDeleteAnyway check in when encouragement is needed. Plenty available.
Thank you for the offer of encouragement - I will keep it in mind!
DeleteI didn't remember that Ruth Stout was also the Square Foot gardener - I only remembered the "without an aching back" part. I really must request her books from interlibrary loan! Tis certainly the season.
Bravo!
ReplyDeleteA good clear out can be a huge inspiration and confidence booster.
I think the psychological effects are almost as valuable as the space it creates. It does improve energy. For more clearing..
ReplyDeleteGood to know that I'm not the only one with a 'get rid of' mentality. I've been tearing into my sewing space and am amazing myself at just how much I'm managing to get rid of in some way or other. And you're so right - it does improve energy for more clearing! Onward....
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of items just get into our space without our noticing. The other side of this is to defend against new stuff sneaking in!
ReplyDeleteEven harder is saying no to those well-meaning people who tend to want to dump what THEY don't want on you because they just know you'll be able to put it to good use.
DeleteWe are in the same process. We have just rented a two bedroom apartment. We get the keys on Friday. It was a decision that came about after much stress about selling and moving and finding a new place. Now we have somewhere to go and can gradually move stuff, store stuff, throw out stuff...whatever...and then put our house up for sale.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly my plan. Move out then put the house up. So I can avoid the stress of all happening at once. It will be an expensive interval, but I think it's okay. My house is in a very desirable school system, and properties in this development don't take long to sell.
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