Out of Chaos
an organizing newsletter
Decembr 2006 - Issue No. 13
Today Is The Day
Sometimes, I am with a client and we are sorting through a linen closet, or a dresser drawer, or a kitchen cabinet and on the highest shelf we come upon some very nice sheets or shirts or dishes, much nicer in fact than the ratty/mismatched/ chipped ones that they use, and I say, “shouldn’t these be easier to reach, and they tell me, “oh no, I’m saving those.” “For what?” I ask… oh, they always have an answer, but it is never really good enough. Here is what I say, don’t save for tomorrow the nice dress you could be wearing today. Why sleep one more night on threadbare sheets, when there are gorgeous, new 600-thread count ones in the closet. And please, use that pretty scented soap in the powder room soap dish before it gets all dusty and you have to throw it out. I think the roots of this problem lie in two of the most common problems that I see holding people back from organization, one is fear (of lack, of not having enough) and the other is perfectionism. The perfectionist is waiting to use that soap until the bathroom is as lovely as the soap, but it may never be that lovely, and the soap could do a lot to dress up that dingy bathroom. So, seize the day, use the good stuff. Life is hard, don’t deny yourself what you already have- today is the day- break it out.
EXTENDED HOURS.
While I will still only be working three or four days a week this summer, I will be working longer hours, which should allow me to see two clients per day. Mary Ann will continue to work with me, so between the two of us, there is no reason to put off that big photo album project one more year!
Gift Idea
A friend recently told me that she and her sister have been giving each other very expensive underpants for birthday and Christmas for the past few years. They had reached the age when they really wanted to control the endless creep of stuff in their lives, and also when they wanted to have better stuff, but less of it. Still, coming from nice, middle class backgrounds, they had a hard time justifying $40 for a pair of Hanro underpants. However, if they gave them to each other, it seemed okay. So, now they are each up to six pairs, they haven’t added to each other’s clutter in three years- and every birthday and Christmas they get to toss a pair of HANES for HER.