The situation: about a year ago, my parents packed a van full of all my childhood/teenage possessions that still existed in their house. My basement, which I'd just spent a long time cleaning and felt great about, was suddenly full of boxes upon boxes of completely unorganized junk. A lot of it had memories attached, and the task of dealing with all that stuff was so big and nebulous I just avoided the basement altogether -- until this weekend! Really, there's no pretty way to say it:
I began the day on Saturday with coffee in my Tomorrowland mug (which I love) and leftover brownies. Delicious!
By the time I reached 4:00 this afternoon, every muscle in my body was tired, but I was only one Broadway musical away from the finish line (more on this in a minute). The fatigue in my veins felt almost cleansing, pleasant to my calmed senses. Cleaning out makes my whole life feel lighter. By letting go of all the extraneous stuff in my life, I can give my mind room to breathe while really cherishing the artifacts I do choose to save from my past.
Remembering the 7 Habits, I began my weekend with the end in mind. Clearing out the basement and building a room down there is the first step in a chain reaction that will give me a really nice writing space. One of my goals for this year is to establish an "office" that acts as a writing studio, a space that I feel great about rolling out of bed and heading into to write in the morning. Letting go of a lifetime of clutter (which is totally empowering anyway) will allow this to happen, and that awareness really kept me motivated while I worked.
In the course of my travels through the mess I found some angsty artwork from seventh grade and a truly scary marionette.
Also, rather than exhausting myself entirely early on, I made sure to pace myself and take breaks before I reached a state where I absolutely couldn't go on. I started with on-the-go playlists on my iPod, but quickly began using musicals to divide my time into manageable chunks. Not wanting to break up the story, I stayed put until each show was over. I listened to:
Gypsy
Passion
Into the Woods (actually too long for this -- I got really tired by the end!)
Songs for a New World
Between musicals I made sure to take legitimate breaks: sit on the couch and read, play WoW, lay down, write in my notebook, etc. And guess what: I made it! Much like they do on reality TV, I sorted all the stuff I wanted to keep (actually less than I thought -- the picture below shows about 1/3 of it) into our storage room and left the main basement room full of boxes to give away. Now to figure out where it can go!
All in all, it was a great and productive weekend. I even found a binder full of letters that inspired me toward a major writing project. I've been waiting for the right protagonist to stumble into my life, and I think I've got him. But that's "a whole nother" post, as they say.
And look, I even got a chance to pot some tomatoes and strawberries for late-summer snacking!
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