MP3s Don’t Need Shelves

Posted on by lisaflorence

I did get rid of my standard five+ items today (blah blah blah)…

  1. 10 pieces of mail
  2. two old dining chairs
  3. a plant-hook stand
  4. a lampshade
  5. an old fireplace log holder… that was appraised and not worth anything

BUT, the real HOLY SMOKES award goes to my husband who consolidated the volume of his entire CD collection

from this…

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Shown above: 15 bags FILLED with unwanted CD jewel cases, and the shelves they once lived on.

… to this!!!!

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Shown above: FIVE books. Each filled at 75% capacity, to provide room to grow. This is some dramatic space reduction!!!

I want to linger on this point a little while. Look at that purged pile of shelves and jewel cases again. See how much space that is!!! This is the size of a beautiful big closet. I can’t get away from this thought. I feel like we just paid for an addition to our home. I feel like a carpenter was interviewed, hired, here and gone. Leaving in his wake one big closet, freshly built!!! But, it’s dreamlike because all this extra space cost only $150 (five big cd cases at $30 each), didn’t require any labor research or disruption in daily life. It required several hours on the couch, transferring CDs while watching House Hunters and other TV favorites. It can be kind of therapeutic to do this sort of sorting (I didn’t do any of it, I’m just thinking back to the last time I did anything like this, which was possibly about twelve years ago).

The shelves, we no longer need, are awesome. They seem super useful. I thought of keeping them to store my tchotchkes (oh wait, I got rid of most of those) or some toiletry products (ug! got rid of those too)… ok, ok, I’m illustrating a point in a rather goofy format. These shelves are great! But, shelves are for shelving things. If you don’t got much in the way of things, what good are shelves?

Happy November 29, Everyone! I’ll see you tomorrow for the final day of my November Pact to Purge. WOW! Really? Just for your info, I do keep checking the calendar to confirm November does only go up to 30!!!! HAHHA, this is how psyched I am.

5 Things Gone—Practice Art

Posted on by lisaflorence

Not all art is sacred. Not all artists are born with talent, either. Therefore, practice art! Today’s purged stuff dates back to 1992-1998. I can’t say my newer art is light years ahead, but at least I know it’s time to let go of these very important (to my development) practice pieces.

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5 pieces of practice art gone today!

  1. Practice painting, lady
  2. Practice painting, fruit/still life
  3. Practice painting, dream scene
  4. Practice pad #1
  5. Practice pad #2 (Referencing my definition that a “thing” is a decision (every decision to toss equals one thing) this pad might count as 30 decisions (the number of sketches I flipped through, and decided to discard).

Have a nice day, everyone! I’ll see you tomorrow for day #20 of my November Pact to Purge

Minimizing. Day 17—discovering a smarter laundry strategy.

Posted on by lisaflorence

That’s what lazy people do, right? We sit around and think about different ways to do things.

All of today’s items are duplicates. Regarding the two little towels, I have this idea that if I reduce my volume of clothes and linens, I won’t need to do so much sorting and thinking. That is the part of laundry I hate the most! Who wants to think about details of laundry? Yuck! Just do it. Shove all the towels in one load and be done with it. If I edit my collection to be one load/week and only things that can all go in one load together (same temp, same color) then that sounds pretty sweet to me!

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Today’s purged five are (it’s Monday, I went easy, just five items).

  1. Broken cooking thermometer
  2. Duplicate steak thermometer #1
  3. Duplicate steak thermometer #2
  4. Face cloth
  5. Hand towl

Day 16—More Square Footage!

Posted on by lisaflorence

I’m not a scientist, but I did enjoy Jr. High physics class. It’s the first time I heard “matter is neither created nor destroyed”.  It feels that way at home now. All the time I’ve invested in removing excessive things from my home, is coming back to me. For more than two weeks, I’ve been going through daily clutter purges. I did not lose, or waste, that time at all. It just shifted. Removing stuff means you’re removing choices. Fewer choices means fewer decisions. I’m talking about trivial choices and decisions. Ones that don’t matter one bit. For example, should I moisturize with coconut oil today or sesame? Who cares!!! right? This is exactly the type of choice that brings a false sense of freedom. I removed it, therefore I have more freedom. I have more time. I have more square footage in my house! Look at these piles I dropped off at Salvation Army yesterday (batch one above, batch two below). Does it seem like an insignificant volume? It is the size of a small hall closet. I just increased the size of my living space and removed brain tax. Ahhh! Hello Sunday!

Since yesterday, I have said . . .

  1. Goodbye Marimekko paper placematts that I forgot I had
  2. Goodbye THREE decks of cards. Because the two decks my husband added  weren’t enough . . .
  3. Goodbye six bath and body products that I never liked using (Moroccan hair oil scent goes from lovely to OMG WTF really really fast)
  4. Goodbye umpteenth med item that expired in 2010
  5. Goodbye unneeded tablecloth that I always idealized for being classic white, but ultimately was also too fearful to use

Here they are, forever in photography…and thankfully no longer in my home.

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Day 13, storage purge (essential vs. excess)

Posted on by lisaflorence

Yesterday I came across Thrive With Less. The documentary, by a group of college students, who give themselves challenges to live with less (for example fewer clothes, less driving, no eating out). During their clearing process one gal used the criteria essential vs. excess. Just two criteria to think about when discarding. Just hearing it feels simple and reassuring. I feel calmer imagining my goal as living in a home with more essential, less excessive.

Excessive is one way to describe my basement storage area of kitchen things. Though, before hearing these terms, I might have described the contents as essential. It is practical in that it holds what feels essential, but only for special occasions (serving platters, cake stand, enormous stock pot). I guess that doesn’t sound very essential.

Today my five items come from this storage closet, but this time (unlike cow creamer) I really am getting them out of the house. I never use these things. It is still challenging to let go. I’m hopeful (fairly confident even) that once they all leave the house, I will feel relief and freedom.

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Today’s items I’m getting rid of (Nov 13)

  1. Popcorn popper—I’ve hung on to this for so long because it’s really cool! It works great, I bought it for cheap. However, I never use it. I try not to use the microwave. I need to cut this.
  2. Muffin baking dish—Again, super cool clay baker. I used it once two years ago (I’ve had it for 10). I used it because I was trying to prove to myself why I needed to keep it.
  3. Jelly glass—Such a great shape! Plus it was free. We have far too many glasses. Goodbye.
  4. Silicone ice/cube or baking trays—used once. Had high hopes for these. But, found the whole process really awkward.
  5. Oven mitt—This is another wonderful reason to decide to minimize. It forces you to assess your stuff. This thing was hanging on a hook near the stove. I can’t remember the last time I used it. Look at it! The tip is all gross and deteriorated. I can’t donate this. I’m trashing it. I was hanging on to garbage and I didn’t even know it!

I’m realizing that writing here and confronting myself (and my thought process) really helps me to see things with more clarity. I’m feeling better about letting go of these things already!

What’s this all about? November pact to purge

I rest my case (Ughhh! Not for 18 more days.)

Posted on by lisaflorence

Today marks day 12 of my November pact to minimize. Basically it sucks! And, it is amazing. But, it really does pretty much suck and I can’t wait to push through this. To date I’ve gotten rid of 430+ items (just this month).

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Every day I feel free and accomplished and motivated. Then I get home and suddenly I’m grumpy. The second I decide I’m going to cop out I miraculously get hit with a eureka moment and find something else I’m willing to get rid of. Then I feel guilty and doubtful. Then I remind myself I don’t need 20 blankets or 30 pillowcases. I move forth with my choice to liberate and I feel free. I feel like I’m in control and my newly edited house of things is here to serve me. That’s when the jaw drop happens. At this moment I realize most of what I’ve been struggling with is the feeling of obligation. Getting rid of things doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate things. It took me a while to grasp that. What I’m feeling is that I do greatly appreciate things. I’m just not putting things on a pedestal. Me, my husband, our cat, our friends. Me having a space to get arty. Us having room to get comfy and relax together. It’s pretty cool to be here.

5 things I got rid of today, Nov 12 

  1. Waffled and piped pillowcase
  2. Flannel pillowcase
  3. Home made pillowcase
  4. Quilted sham
  5. Pair of squiggle-flower Euro-shams