Over the past 3 weeks, we have disappeared into settling back into our home in Ontario. It has been a time of unpacking, sorting and trips to the recycling station, Value Village and various stores. I have been reflecting on how this has felt and principles that seemed to be emerging for me as I sift through our stuff.
Put a few rooms in order. It feels quite uncomfortable for me to see mess everywhere I look. This has been our life and so it became important to 'put a few rooms in order'. Even when the change seemed overwhelming and when we felt like we had so much more to do, going into a room that was organized was quite soul soothing. It also meant that we could begin to have people over, to build relationships and reconnect, which is also important as we settle in.
There might be a particular place where you need order. Even though we had some rooms sorted, I was growing more and more impatient, as my office continued to be piled high with boxes and mess. It was important to me as I transition to a new 'place of work' to get that place in order. I got up early one Sat morning a week or so ago, and just worked til it was done. I was exhausted, and by the next day, thrilled to go into my office. At the same time, my husband is setting up a 'man cave'/ guest room upstairs, and he was busy painting and working hard. Each of us, while we didn't mind so much about the state of the 'other's space', our space really mattered.
Some stuff is junk and needs to be dealt with accordingly. As we have amalgamated our households from the past 6 years of living away, and looking as empty nesters on our furniture and stuff, I realize, some stuff just needs to go. Even though each piece of furniture has stories associated with it, and memories attached, we can't keep it all. We need to determine what must go, and then use what's left to build new stories and memories. Similarly, our garage is also filled currently with our son's gear (or at least some of it) as he returns to stay with us for this fall...
Even in the tidiness of life, there is often still a box waiting to be sorted!
Even though my office is pretty tidy, I still had one box I wasn't sure where to put...so it sits in the hall closet outside my office door. Some day, in a quiet moment, I will think more deeply about the las contents and where they ought to be placed. What I won't do, is add other boxes to that same cupboard and find myself back where I started, sorting lots of boxes!
Happy Sorting!