Sometimes a trashbag is a beautiful thing.
No. I'm not talking about that weird kid videotaping a shopping bag in that one movie. That's just littering. What I'm talking about is taking out the trash.
I've been working a lot on my internal garbage. The negative self-talk, the imposter syndrome, the horrid things we have to absorb from the news...all of that sucks. Getting rid of, replacing with good, and gaining new coping mechanisms for these things is important.
But what I wanted to chat about today is an actual garbage bag. Filled with actual garbage.
I took one out of my office space today. I'd been tripping over things and stumbling to get to my office for months. It cleared out a little after the holiday when we could get the stash of gifts and wrapping paper out of there, but you don't notice how much STUFF accumulates until one day you stub your toe and can't take it anymore.
Little bits of paper, trade magazines you're actually going to read this time, planner shiz, electronics cables, and tons more all seems to center around where you do the most work. For me...that's my office. Or it used to be.
During the holidays, our whole house tends to flip. We make room for a tree, so furniture moves. We have extra things we buy, so those get stashed random places. The things we use everyday that aren't pretty, get moved (to my office) so they aren't in the way of visitors.
I realized sometime after Christmas, that I'd stopped even trying to go into my office. It made me sad that the place I'd set aside for just me, had been overrun with everyone else's crap. And today, when I walked in again to do my affirmations and visualization practice, I'd had it.
Ever heard the term "Rage Clean"? Maybe you do this, or know someone else that does. But I tend to avoid a lot of household chores until I just can't take it anymore and then rip everything that's pissing me off down, throw it away, or scrub the hell out of it. And I can't stop until it's done. At least it's cardio, because I get my heart pumping being so mad at every piece of junk that has made its way into my space.
I've been known to throw things a time or two, but mostly I can contain myself by stuffing the shit I want gone into a trashcan with extra force.
Why is my blog a little late today? Why haven't people heard from me this morning? WHY HAVE I GOTTEN NOTHING ON MY TO DO LIST DONE DAMMIT I'M SO FUCKING BEHIND!
ahem.
I started cleaning to get a space to work and my finish-it-itis kicked in. There was no going back. I've spent the last two hours re-organizing the office that has to function as planner land, household management land, bill payment land, and author land. All in a five foot by six foot space.
So taking out an entire bag of items to throw away, along with a few other things that somehow filtered in from the rest of the house, made a huge difference.
I literally took the trash out of my space today, and I feel so much lighter.
Forget spring cleaning. I'll take post-holiday cleaning any day of the week. Getting rid of all that stuff makes the weight of the holidays seem to vanish and I feel like I can breathe again.
Are you a naturally tidy person who doesn't have this problem? Or are you like me and have to tackle one room at a time due to budget or schedule? Or does you family tend to undo every single scrap of progress you make? I'd love to hear about it.
And if you're looking around and feeling a little closed in, I recommend grabbing an empty garbage bag and filling it up from anywhere in your house. Take that full garbage bag out to the dumpster. Get it out of your space. It's so damn satisfying. And nothing is ever prettier than a full bag of trash you don't have to look at tomorrow.
~Roxy
No. I'm not talking about that weird kid videotaping a shopping bag in that one movie. That's just littering. What I'm talking about is taking out the trash.
I've been working a lot on my internal garbage. The negative self-talk, the imposter syndrome, the horrid things we have to absorb from the news...all of that sucks. Getting rid of, replacing with good, and gaining new coping mechanisms for these things is important.
But what I wanted to chat about today is an actual garbage bag. Filled with actual garbage.
I took one out of my office space today. I'd been tripping over things and stumbling to get to my office for months. It cleared out a little after the holiday when we could get the stash of gifts and wrapping paper out of there, but you don't notice how much STUFF accumulates until one day you stub your toe and can't take it anymore.
Little bits of paper, trade magazines you're actually going to read this time, planner shiz, electronics cables, and tons more all seems to center around where you do the most work. For me...that's my office. Or it used to be.
During the holidays, our whole house tends to flip. We make room for a tree, so furniture moves. We have extra things we buy, so those get stashed random places. The things we use everyday that aren't pretty, get moved (to my office) so they aren't in the way of visitors.
I realized sometime after Christmas, that I'd stopped even trying to go into my office. It made me sad that the place I'd set aside for just me, had been overrun with everyone else's crap. And today, when I walked in again to do my affirmations and visualization practice, I'd had it.
Ever heard the term "Rage Clean"? Maybe you do this, or know someone else that does. But I tend to avoid a lot of household chores until I just can't take it anymore and then rip everything that's pissing me off down, throw it away, or scrub the hell out of it. And I can't stop until it's done. At least it's cardio, because I get my heart pumping being so mad at every piece of junk that has made its way into my space.
I've been known to throw things a time or two, but mostly I can contain myself by stuffing the shit I want gone into a trashcan with extra force.
Why is my blog a little late today? Why haven't people heard from me this morning? WHY HAVE I GOTTEN NOTHING ON MY TO DO LIST DONE DAMMIT I'M SO FUCKING BEHIND!
ahem.
I started cleaning to get a space to work and my finish-it-itis kicked in. There was no going back. I've spent the last two hours re-organizing the office that has to function as planner land, household management land, bill payment land, and author land. All in a five foot by six foot space.
So taking out an entire bag of items to throw away, along with a few other things that somehow filtered in from the rest of the house, made a huge difference.
I literally took the trash out of my space today, and I feel so much lighter.
Forget spring cleaning. I'll take post-holiday cleaning any day of the week. Getting rid of all that stuff makes the weight of the holidays seem to vanish and I feel like I can breathe again.
Are you a naturally tidy person who doesn't have this problem? Or are you like me and have to tackle one room at a time due to budget or schedule? Or does you family tend to undo every single scrap of progress you make? I'd love to hear about it.
And if you're looking around and feeling a little closed in, I recommend grabbing an empty garbage bag and filling it up from anywhere in your house. Take that full garbage bag out to the dumpster. Get it out of your space. It's so damn satisfying. And nothing is ever prettier than a full bag of trash you don't have to look at tomorrow.
~Roxy
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