so, my usual way to purge my things is to 1. throw as much shit away as i possibly can. it's like all my environmental recycling instincts get put on hold for a couple hours and i am holding my ears and singing "la la la la la" i can't hear you, you voices that say not to create so much trash for the landfill. and in the trash it goes. the other tactic is 2. to take everything immediately and put it in the back of my mini van. where it sits forever until i finally get it to the Goodwill. and that is why i call the back of our van our own little goodwill.
this time, and dear lord it is taking a lot of time! i am going through everything. i am placing things in piles. which is another issue...where to put all these piles? i hate the clutter, i mean, isn't the absence of clutter one of the reasons for this whole thing to begin with? right? i know, it is, but i have to live with it in the meantime. some piles are for Goodwill, some for trash...and i have a new pile! things for a yard sale. traditionally i have put yard sales together at the last minute and i don't know if it is just me, but i tend to make about $ .50 total, for a whole day of sitting around making small talk with strangers about my stuff i don't deem worthy of staying in my possession. it is awkward at best. most yard sales are awkward, to me. unless they have great stuff for a great price...then it is like heaven. i am hoping to create more of that feel this time. and if i succeed, the fruits of my labor...the money i make (hopefully more than my usual) will go straight into my "The Baumgarts are going to Europe! fund"
so that's the plan. it is taking sweet time. i did clear out my china closet and i have a box of free stuff for neighbors to take, and the rest will go in the trash. so again, i feel i am making this a better process, and not just filling the landfill with my poor choices when it comes to taking free stuff and buying crap i don't need. and that's another thing, when you don't have that much money, like us....people are always going you stuff. and i totally appreciate it, AND i have to admit i get so used to taking free stuff that i don't discriminate any longer, i just take it...in case. and because i feel like i should cause we can always use the help, right? wrong. i can still get out my virgo and be discriminating.
tomorrow, i have some time to get back to work on all this.
my list is....finish the china closet. and get started on our built-in buffet in the dining room. both of these projects will be satisfying, but are so behind the scenes, the drawers are always shut, so all that crap hides so easily. wish me luck!
here is an interview from the Sun magazine (which i may still submit to, remember?) with a guy from the Adbusters magazine i linked to before....enjoy! on Consumerism....
http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/307/truth_in_advertising
good night...
Melissa
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