Streamline

The first-floor bathroom in our house was rebuilt from the studs out in December. It was not the best time of the year to have a construction project going, but the work needed to be done, the contractor was available, and January seemed a worse choice. So we called for a dumpster, started ordering materials, and worked around a construction site. We also took the opportunity to declutter.

This was not our first rodeo—I mean decluttering attempt. I believe it was dumpster number four. No, there are no aisles through the clutter in our house. But we have four children, active businesses and hobbies, and have lived in this house a long time. Getting rid of stuff requires negotiation because one person’s clutter is another person’s possessions, and the process requires time and diplomacy.

cleanouts always raise questions about how much you want to streamline your life. I have my limits. Yes, every one of the hundreds of books gives me pleasure. The maritime collection alone has over 300 titles. Oh, Lou! You don’t need so many!” Oh yes, I do. The drawings are in my collection if someone wants a carving of an obscure 1890s steam yacht. Get rid of the book, and I’m trotting my butt to Virginia for research or Bath, Maine. Try to find the title online; the only copy available costs two hundred dollars. Keep your tiny Marie Kondo hands off my library!

Otherwise, remember that possessions reflect personality. The carved ship and boat portraits may need dusting, but they are part and parcel of who I am and how I express my personality in my home.

Could I live in a sanitized monk’s cell? Maybe—until the Spartan regimen grew lax, and I added bits and pieces of my identity to the decor.

As a society, we’ve become hung up on images from magazines of uncluttered but sterile rooms with expensive furniture. There is not a darn thing wrong with having “stuff”, provided it’s not hoarding. Your “stuff”, if it makes you happy, Is OK.

Now take a deep breath and repeat it- “My stuff is OK, if it makes me happy.”

My prescription is that you stop your subscription to those idiotic home magazines selling synthetic homes for synthetic people. Grab a loose alternative and live your life, not some hopped up BS from a magazine.

TaTa For Now (TTFN)