Seven hours later…with a brief break for lunch…
First, I took everything off the shelves and out of the closet (except for the filing cabinet).
Then it was time for more coffee because the hard part was about to begin.
I had to confront my personal defects and the reality of my future: was I the kind of quilter who would use leftover quilt blocks and pieces for making a thrifty hodgepodge quilt?
No.
Was I going to use the gold duvet cover with the matching pillowcases and dust ruffle again?
No.
Would I ever finish this sewing project? Write this book? Teach this class again?
No.
It went on like that all day. I had a huge black garbage bag—the bigger the bag, the more you throw away!–and I filled it (and more).
I had boxes and bags for the stuff to donate. I filled them.
And much to my embarrassment I found a huge box of notes from my two high school boyfriends. Oh, the angst! It all smelled like mold, but I had to open a few and relive the pain of first love and rejection.
It was still a little bit awful, I will admit. (I don’t know what that says about my mental health).
Why did I keep this stuff? And where has it been????
I found yellow ribbons and a dried flower in an envelope marked, “Barbara’s wedding”. She will get a kick out of that. I also found a blue velvet remnant from my bridesmaid dress (we sewed our own–they were lovely, with bell sleeves and ivory lace trim).
The filing cabinet cleaning was actually fun. I separated the piles into “toss”, “keep” and “burn” (due to private info).
I found one large bin, opened it to see “treasures” I knew I’d never part with. They were tucked safely in the bin for a reason. So because I wasn’t “death cleaning”, I put the lid back on and found a home for it back in the closet.
My biggest mistake is having no tequila and ginger ale in the house. I could use a celebratory alcoholic beverage right now.
Along with a bath.
Bravo! You are my hero. You’ve inspired me to go into my office, which I never use, and put on my death clean hat and get brutal on forgotten stuff.
You go, girl! It’s amazing how much stuff I had that I really didn’t need. Such a good feeling to be in control of the space.