Help
With Your Rule
I'm Scared of My Basement!
Dear Holly
I appreciate the need to simplify my possessions and organize my house, but I'm almost paralyzed when it comes to sorting out all the stuff I have in my basement. I've been piling stuff there for years, it's a heaping mound, and I can't imagine what to give away and what to keep. Plus, it seems I have boxes and bags in every closet and cranny upstairs and when I go to bed at night, I can barely pray for all the stuff staring me in the face. I just feel pressured.
Labels: 5th P Provider
posted by Holly at 8:11 AM
3 Comments:
In this situation, I'd move in a series of slow graduated steps, instead of trying to sort what to keep or give away immediately.
First, I'd rid the upstairs of everything that we didn't need on a regular basis and pile up even more in the basement! This will clear out the space where you actually 'live' and immediately reduce the pressure.
Then, I'd buy a bunch of bins and boxes and attack the basement, enlisting the help of husband, children and friends.
I'd push all the basement stuff into the center, line the boxes all around the walls, and just start sorting -- books go with books, papers with papers, craft stuff with craft stuff, clothes with clothes.
Then, I'd assign a storage area for each thing. After everything had a place, only then would I start the process of discernment about what I needed to keep and what not to keep, and this I would do leisurely over a number of months. That's what I'd do.
I agree with Holly's comment - I call it Baby steps...
Please remember also that Simplicity is a virtue. Take some time to think about our Blessed Mother. She pondered the events of her Son's life "in her heart" - not in a box somewhere. We can pray to receive the gift of Simplicity and then practice that virtue. I find that the more simplicity I achieve, the more I desire. It is as if those tidy closets and empty counter tops make more room for Christ in my home.
I think I would simplify it even more than Holly did. First I would decide what closet I wanted cleaned first. Say it's the one in my bedroom that stares a me when I am trying to sleep or pray. Then, set a timer for 15 minutes and only do 15 minutes worth of work on it. Ask these questions for each item: Do I need it (not "will I POSSIBLY need it in the next year")? Do I love it (not "do I feel guilty every time I see it because I don't like it but my Mom gave it to me so I have to keep it")? Does it fit me now or is it reasonable that it will fit me in the next few months (if it is clothes)? Then either decide where it goes and put it there, put it in a bag to take to Goodwill, or throw it out with the trash.
Do 15 minutes every day (maybe twice a day, if you want). Don't think about the whole basement or all the closets. Do only 15 minutes worth. Then you won't give up because it is too much. You know that you can stop in 15 minutes (with nothing left all over the place), and have a cup of tea or a glass of water before deciding if you want to do another 15 minutes that day. USE A TIMER so you don't get sidetracked or burned out!
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