09-17-10
Welcome to the first episode of “Living on the Edge with Less” blog! Today is a new chapter in my life and I intend to make my life a lot less cluttered and a lot more enjoyable by writing this blog.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a bona fide collector of stuff. By that, I mean, any kind of stuff. I have many collections that I have accumulated over my nearly 54 years of life on this planet. It all started as I grew up in a large family that did not possess a lot of this world’s goods. I had seven siblings and anything that I could totally call my own, usually had to be purchased with my own money. I did a lot of odd jobs to gain whatever income I could, which didn’t amount to much back in those days. Oh, I did some babysitting for neighbors or family friends, always had the annual $2 I got from my paternal grandmother for a birthday gift, had a job washing dishes at a restaurant down the road from our house in the country, worked as a clerk at a Foto Foto Fun Fun booth (I’ll tell you about that later, maybe…) and various and sundry other insignificant jobs to gain wealth. None of them, mind you, gained me much in the financial department. Lots of experiences, but not much money. I had a lot of responsibility as the oldest daughter in our family of eight kids and with that, came not much in the realm of possessions. Oh sure, I had the mandatory bedroom (that I shared with two sisters) and a bed (which was a mattress on the floor – by choice of one of my sisters and myself). When my parents decided to leave the big city and move to the country to a five-acre plot with a dilapidated old farmhouse on it, they allowed us kids to choose whatever colors we wanted for our bedrooms. I really think that was their way of tricking us into helping redecorate/remodel the old place! Our bedroom was one where old Ferdie (one of the previous homeowners) had supposedly died right in his bed in that very room. That is a story for another time…Anyway, my sister Beth and I chose to paint our room in bright orange and yellow. One door was orange and yellow striped. We also found some awesome wallpaper with big orange and yellow flowers on it. Mind you, this was the 70s and we fit right in with all the groovy things in style back then.
So, you say, what does all of this have to do with living on the edge with less? Well, I tell you all this because I am trying to explain (rationalize maybe?) why I have this strong need to collect stuff. I know it is deeply rooted in how I grew up and how I had to fend for myself, so to speak, when it came to having any worldly possessions to call my own. I remember one summer our family was going to take one of our rare family vacations, which usually was to go see other relatives, and I had saved up $1.75. Yep, a big whopping $1.75 for my very own spending money. I was tickled pink to be so flush with the big bucks. Life was good. I was ready to go. I had visions of spending my money on some wonderful little nugget I found in a chintzy little tourist stop I was sure we were going to be stopping at along the way. I probably bought a little trinket of some sort, but it was sure to be going to find a place in one of my collections. I already had some of those back then, you know. I was the big collector of stuff, even back then.
So, now fast forward to 2010. What collections do I have? Small white pitchers of all shapes and sizes, meat cleavers, antique rug beaters, rolling pins, antique thunder buckets (or slop jars or honey pots, as some people refer to them), antique blue insulators that used to be on top of electric poles. There are so many “collections” that I can hardly begin to remember them all. I also have a huge collection of boxes in my garage and basement that I could not even begin to tell you what they contain. That is pretty sad to say, isn’t it? With all the moves we have made in our 33 years of marriage, this is the biggest house we have ever lived in, so therefore, of course, I have to keep everything. Right? No, I don’t. I need to start getting rid of all my stuff. It has seemingly taken over too much space in my mind and my life. Now that all four kids are grown and living out of the house, it is definitely time to start the process of weeding out and decluttering all the stuff I have accumulated over a good, long life. I swore almost 10 years ago after the very sudden death of my own mother (with my father having died only 10 short months prior to her untimely death), that I would NEVER burden my kids with all my stuff when I died. My siblings and I weeded through all the 50 years of stuff my mom had accumulated and let me tell you, it was NOT a fun task! And it was also very time consuming. So, therefore, let me make this pledge to anyone and everyone who is reading this blog. I am going to start tomorrow decluttering my life and home. It may take me a while, but it is going to happen. I am telling everyone and anyone who cares to listen that my life is going to change drastically. I am determined to have a simpler life and less clutter will be a huge beginning to that end. I really think it will help to declutter my mind also as I embark on this venture.
So, who is going to go on this adventure with me? Please write and let me know if you read this blog and tell me your story. I hope to be an encouragement and also to entertain others as I wade through all the stuff in my life. I’ll keep you all posted as to how it all progresses. I intend to devote (at minimum) one hour a day to start this endeavor. It should be an exciting trip down memory lane for me and, hopefully, a good read for everyone else.
Until next time…
Life is good. Live it well.
Welcome to the first episode of “Living on the Edge with Less” blog! Today is a new chapter in my life and I intend to make my life a lot less cluttered and a lot more enjoyable by writing this blog.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a bona fide collector of stuff. By that, I mean, any kind of stuff. I have many collections that I have accumulated over my nearly 54 years of life on this planet. It all started as I grew up in a large family that did not possess a lot of this world’s goods. I had seven siblings and anything that I could totally call my own, usually had to be purchased with my own money. I did a lot of odd jobs to gain whatever income I could, which didn’t amount to much back in those days. Oh, I did some babysitting for neighbors or family friends, always had the annual $2 I got from my paternal grandmother for a birthday gift, had a job washing dishes at a restaurant down the road from our house in the country, worked as a clerk at a Foto Foto Fun Fun booth (I’ll tell you about that later, maybe…) and various and sundry other insignificant jobs to gain wealth. None of them, mind you, gained me much in the financial department. Lots of experiences, but not much money. I had a lot of responsibility as the oldest daughter in our family of eight kids and with that, came not much in the realm of possessions. Oh sure, I had the mandatory bedroom (that I shared with two sisters) and a bed (which was a mattress on the floor – by choice of one of my sisters and myself). When my parents decided to leave the big city and move to the country to a five-acre plot with a dilapidated old farmhouse on it, they allowed us kids to choose whatever colors we wanted for our bedrooms. I really think that was their way of tricking us into helping redecorate/remodel the old place! Our bedroom was one where old Ferdie (one of the previous homeowners) had supposedly died right in his bed in that very room. That is a story for another time…Anyway, my sister Beth and I chose to paint our room in bright orange and yellow. One door was orange and yellow striped. We also found some awesome wallpaper with big orange and yellow flowers on it. Mind you, this was the 70s and we fit right in with all the groovy things in style back then.
So, you say, what does all of this have to do with living on the edge with less? Well, I tell you all this because I am trying to explain (rationalize maybe?) why I have this strong need to collect stuff. I know it is deeply rooted in how I grew up and how I had to fend for myself, so to speak, when it came to having any worldly possessions to call my own. I remember one summer our family was going to take one of our rare family vacations, which usually was to go see other relatives, and I had saved up $1.75. Yep, a big whopping $1.75 for my very own spending money. I was tickled pink to be so flush with the big bucks. Life was good. I was ready to go. I had visions of spending my money on some wonderful little nugget I found in a chintzy little tourist stop I was sure we were going to be stopping at along the way. I probably bought a little trinket of some sort, but it was sure to be going to find a place in one of my collections. I already had some of those back then, you know. I was the big collector of stuff, even back then.
So, now fast forward to 2010. What collections do I have? Small white pitchers of all shapes and sizes, meat cleavers, antique rug beaters, rolling pins, antique thunder buckets (or slop jars or honey pots, as some people refer to them), antique blue insulators that used to be on top of electric poles. There are so many “collections” that I can hardly begin to remember them all. I also have a huge collection of boxes in my garage and basement that I could not even begin to tell you what they contain. That is pretty sad to say, isn’t it? With all the moves we have made in our 33 years of marriage, this is the biggest house we have ever lived in, so therefore, of course, I have to keep everything. Right? No, I don’t. I need to start getting rid of all my stuff. It has seemingly taken over too much space in my mind and my life. Now that all four kids are grown and living out of the house, it is definitely time to start the process of weeding out and decluttering all the stuff I have accumulated over a good, long life. I swore almost 10 years ago after the very sudden death of my own mother (with my father having died only 10 short months prior to her untimely death), that I would NEVER burden my kids with all my stuff when I died. My siblings and I weeded through all the 50 years of stuff my mom had accumulated and let me tell you, it was NOT a fun task! And it was also very time consuming. So, therefore, let me make this pledge to anyone and everyone who is reading this blog. I am going to start tomorrow decluttering my life and home. It may take me a while, but it is going to happen. I am telling everyone and anyone who cares to listen that my life is going to change drastically. I am determined to have a simpler life and less clutter will be a huge beginning to that end. I really think it will help to declutter my mind also as I embark on this venture.
So, who is going to go on this adventure with me? Please write and let me know if you read this blog and tell me your story. I hope to be an encouragement and also to entertain others as I wade through all the stuff in my life. I’ll keep you all posted as to how it all progresses. I intend to devote (at minimum) one hour a day to start this endeavor. It should be an exciting trip down memory lane for me and, hopefully, a good read for everyone else.
Until next time…
Life is good. Live it well.
