Bitten

So the Spring Cleaning bug has finally bitten me.

Well, to be honest, it's been nibbling at me for over a month now.  Well....a couple of months.  Ok, ok, so ever since we had to accept that we were doomed....erm....destined to do another year in this apartment, I've been wanting to declutter. 

I'm such a damn packrat.  I save so many things, citing various uses...that honestly?  I never get around to implementing.  And I swear it's because I'm hoarding so much that I get completely overwhelmed and then I forget what all I DO have.  So honestly?  What's the point of saving it if I'm never going to use it?

A blogger I read was talking about decluttering and mentioned a book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  Basically the part that stuck with her (that in turn really struck a cord with me) was that it recommends getting rid of EVERY THING that does not "spark joy."  And I got to looking around at the various things I have on my shelves and elsewhere and thought "Nope.  No spark.  It has got to go."  And I'm actually giving myself permission to let these items go. 

I'm tired of the clutter.  I'm tired of the stuff that doesn't spark joy.  It's just bogging me down and hampering my personal level of joy. So why the fuck would I elect to keep that crap around?

I'm going in baby steps and am going with gut instinct.  Basically, if I wouldn't want to spend the time packing it up for a move to take to a new home, it's gone.

Now granted, I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do with the massive bag of stuffed animals I'm getting rid of just yet.  But I will figure something out.  A lot of them are in AMAZING condition, so I'm thinking about listing them dirt cheap on eBay.  A little bit of money is always nice.  And if I'm going to get rid of it anyways, why not make a buck or two off of it for my troubles?  I figure anything left over, I'll just take to Good Will.  Or maybe contact the police department and see if they accept the stuffed animals for shelter children, or children removed from their homes by Child Protective Services.

I went through the ancient chest I have underneath my massive lion painting.  I found all sorts of crap in there.  ::laughs::  The sad discovery?  The altar cloth with the hawk's feather I made for my Vision Quest is deteriorating.  The feather is turning to powder essentially, and sadly, I had to let that altar cloth go.  I guess I will just have to make a new cloth when it comes time for the next Vision Quest.  The other two hawk feathers in there might be salvageable.  I'll have to look at them closer later.  It would be a shame to lose those as well.

But nothing in this life is permanent, and thus, you have to let go of things when it's time. 

I've also gone through 6 years worth of lesson plans and assorted paperwork for my after school program.  Hell, 80% of that shit it getting tossed.  Thankfully, my apartment complex just instituted a recycling program, so it's not like all of that paper is just going into the trash heap.  It'll be recycled, so I feel a bit better about throwing so much out.  I'm just not looking forward to lugging that down three flights of stairs!

Next on the list is to go through my books.  Those I'll list on eBay and Amazon for sure.  I know I can make a bit of money there.  And if it doesn't sell there, I'll take the leftovers to Half Priced Books.  I won't get a whole lot of money there.  But again, anything is better than nothing!

I'm hoping that by freeing up all this dead, negative weight that I'm also in the process of opening up new avenues and areas for blessings to flow into.  Still got a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm feeling pretty damn good about it all.

Onwards and upwards!