In the first 10 of these 30 Days to Get Organized, I’ve cleaned out my kitchen counters, half of my kitchen cabinets, my great-great grandmother’s secretary, the kid’s toys, and looked toward my spice cabinet. I am going to tackle my clothes drawers, my closet, buffet, and desk very soon. So far, I’ve amassed a huge plastic storage bin filled with odds and ends, a bread machine, kitchen ware, toys, books, and other odds and ends to either donate or give away. And I’ve recycled what I could.
So whoever said this: “Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough,” has my respect because this is ringing very true. I’m trying hard to think of my things objectively. It’s a different approach to my typically subjective frame of mind. I’m a sentimental person. And I’m full of what-ifs. What if I might need that bread machine to make bread for visitors at Christmas time? And I know that we’re planning a quiet Christmas with just the four of us this year, but my brain is thinking toward Christmas three, seven, or decades from now. But I can’t be responsible for loaves of bread yet to be baked when I’m 40, can I? And really, if it’s that important to have a homemade loaf of break, I can just bake it the old fashioned way.
But the bread machine is just one example. I need to make a dent in all this stuff that I own and I feel responsible for. Even if I organize it and shut it in a cabinet, it’s still there, lurking and unused. Why not purge myself of it now? Why not realize what’s not needed and find someone who can and will use it? Why not get rid of the excess so I can focus my attention on the things that matter most.
How much, though, is “just baggage enough”? In my life, that remains to be seen. But I’ll work until I find it.
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