First, I plan to work really hard through November purging my home and my mom's garage (where stuff that never got moved to my house 7 years ago still resides). Then, in early December I am going to host a party, a "Blessings Bash", and I will invite everyone I know to come have coffee and dig through my stuff and take whatever they want. Yep. Anything and as much as they think they can use. Anything left over after my bash will take a trip up I-35 to the New Braunfels Women's Shelter.
In the New Year I plan to tackle books. I have around 4,000. No, you didn't read that wrong. And it might be more, I stopped counting. I like books. A lot. But, a solid half of those are children's books, especially younger ones, ones we've grown out of. So, I am going to box up anything I can't live without and I am going to call some local orphanages and see if any of them would accept a donation of used books. I am hoping they say yes, I will probably be able to start a library for them!
Some stuff is just hitting the trash. It isn't a blessing to pass on broken stuff or loved until the pages have fallen out books. I am growing excited over the idea of living leaner. I think the kids are too. There have been a few sighs and "whys" when something they had forgotten about makes it into the "leaving" pile. A gentle chat and reminder of how long the item has been gone and why it was forgotten to begin with has helped calm the seas.
I realize that eight people with different interests, ages and stages will still leave me with more "stuff" than the average family, even after the purging. My true desire is to remove the stumbling block of unnecessary excess and to free us to live more purposefully without the hindrance of "stuff management" to contend with. And, I will try to remember before and after pics. Though, I usually forget, in which case I will just take a photo of the piles and let your imagination do the rest. :)
Good plan! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy purging!