I have more stuff than anyone may want or need in a lifetime. This creates many problems , but the one consistent thread that seems to keep me tangled is the need to manage it all. I love my stuff.
I love collecting, hoarding,organizing, sharing,and mostly playing with all of the things in my life. I HATE carving out the time it takes to manage it. I resent the mundane things like the need to eat, sleep, get to work on time and most importantly, pay for my life.
Oddly enough I buy very little stuff! I make most of the things I surround myself with. I recycle everything. My job as an Art Teacher demands I create multiple quantities of collectibles. It is just the storage I have difficulty with.
Here is my first solution for this blog entry and I am going to try and follow my own advice.
Today a friend sent me a lovely slide show that was meant to inspire me with words of wisdom. One numbered thought asked "If something was true a year from now,would it make a difference?" I have decided that the first plan of action in my overflowing dilemma is to identify the tasks at hand and ask that simple question. "If my felted sweaters are not color-coordinated in my studio by tomorrow ,will it make a difference in my life?" The answer was quite simply NO.
As for the pile of bills,lesson plans and various papers that I seemingly hate to organize and intern deal with, the answer is undoubtedly YES. I will find the missing photos, I will collect the tax information, I will toss the unnecessary clutter and tomorrow I will return to my Blog and report how it went.
Will it be possible to accomplish in one day what I could quite possible put off for more than a year? I let you know,one can only hope.
About Me
- Steffi
- Shelter Island, New York, United States
- I am an Artist and a Teacher. I love to nurture flowers, children and animals.With a little luck and some hard work I hope to refine some of my skills and continue to grow.
As a 'stuff' expert, I know about what you speak and lament. It is (in my world) only a problem when the 'stuff' gets in the way of you being able to produce or function. At that point in time, managing it becomes an important thing. I kind of think I've become a bit of an organizational wizard because of all the 'stuff' I've moved, rearranged, moved again, etc. in my life. If you collect and can't seem to say no to adding to your 'stuff' then that is a life skill you have to learn just to make room.
ReplyDeleteYou more than have a handle on it all and I do believe you really have it under control even though those around you may differ in that thinking.
I look forward to seeing more ruminations from you.
I am not so sure that I can agree with the terms " expert " or " wizard " applied to the need of collecting and rearranging stuff. I often think of the lives of those who own nothing and then wonder about the importance our culture has placed on ownership.
ReplyDeleteWhat you write is interesting and also makes one want to ponder. Has anyone ever bothered to ask someone who owns nothing if in fact they actually wouldn't mind or even desire the act of having ownership in something, even something very simple? Hmmmm PS... It actually is possible to be an expert as well as a wizard as it pertains to the collecting and rearranging of stuff.
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