It was one of those 5am ideas where I wake up with some grand inspiration. That morning it was “I need to hire a professional organizer!”
I don’t always follow through on these early morning ideas. Some of them get unraveled by lunchtime. This one I pursued with a vengeance. I decided it was a Christmas present to myself. I found a local company, J’Organizing and booked her “Effortless Home” package. In the two weeks I waited for my appointment, I was like a hurricane of purging and sorting. I filled bag after bag with things that I no longer needed. I moved and removed things, sorted and re-sorted.
“Didn’t you organize that closet last weekend?” My husband asks as I am emptying the contents of the art closet onto the kitchen floor again.
“Yes, but it’s still not working!” I reply surrounded by a jumble of scrap paper, colouring books, googly eyes, and bits of yarn.
I pondered the optimum amount of scrap paper to keep on hand and agonized about the correct number of colouring books.
“Are you getting a little obsessed.” my mom asked me about a week into the project.
I can only agree with her. I am definitely obsessed and I can’t stop. I am driven from an unknown source of energy.
The storage/laundry room was my main nemesis. I wondered why I was spending so much time worried about a storage room. I would stand inside it, contemplating what I could do to create some sense of harmony.
I told my husband that the storage room is symbolic of my subconscious mind. I was uncovering everything that is hidden in there and discarding what is no longer relevant or wanted.
After two weeks of sorting, purging and moving things around, my two-day appointment with the professional organizer finally came. The storage/laundry room was completely empty and freshly painted. It looked more like a room and less like a cave.
I was more excited than a 5 year old at Christmas. On Day 1 we did the storage room/basement and on Day 2 we got the kitchen, the toys and some key areas of the rest of the house done. A professional organizer normally does a full home edit and organize in 10 days. I could afford two days so we fit as much in as we could. I did much of the pre-work of editing myself.
For me, the project was about taking responsibility for myself, my belongings and my life. Doing the work to clear out the things that I don’t need and give a place of honour to the things that are precious and useful. Knowing where things are and taking the time to put things back where I have said they belong is an act of commitment to myself. It is taking my power back from the default, unconscious habits and lack of presence that I had allowed to create my environment.
I ushered the organizers out the door on Wednesday afternoon and rushed off to pick up my son. That evening a grand clarity came that allowed me to see and articulate a milestone on my own quest for healing. The specifics of my big aha are too much to explain here. The pieces had been there for some time, but like the jumble of tools that I had uncovered in the basement the day before, they had not been available for me to use.
It was as if clearing the junk from the basement also cleared the junk in my mind that was preventing me from seeing something really important.
Now I have the most important tools in a toolbox in the hall closet rather than all mixed up with other materials in a heap under the stairs of the basement. Everything I need neatly stored in a lightweight toolbox labelled “Nicole’s Toolbox”.
With all the tools on hand, I am easily able to get projects done that I had found too overwhelming before. I used my handy toolbox to finally rehang all the pictures in the house after having it repainted last March. I fixed some shelves in a closet and installed hooks to hold the brooms behind the back door. When I needed a screw, I knew which drawer in the basement held one. After using the duct tape, I put it back on the shelf above the label that says “duct tape”. Having all my tools in place and knowing where things are makes me feel more capable and self-reliant.
When the basement all got sorted, I unexpectedly managed to claim a space for myself to work on my creative projects. My sewing and other supplies have been packed away for almost four years. I have always found creative projects rejuvenating and having the space for it gives it the importance and priority it deserves.
It has been two weeks since the big declutter. It takes a few more minutes to put things back where they belong.
I consider it an act of self-care, like a gift I give to myself. It is worth the effort to have a space that reflects my priorities and a mind clear enough to see what is important.
Things will slip as life happens. Some days will be better than others. But I know how to decide what is important and how to put everything back where it belongs.
Love and Peace
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