Clutter

I heard dh shredding stuff in his office yesterday and wondered what I would shred if someone gave me a box full of stuff from my life.

I never was a big "saver" because I never liked clutter. That trait only solidified early in our marriage when we moved five times in 6 years. Out went the high school stuff. Out went the college and grad school stuff. Out went the wedding and first apartment stuff.

When we added a new master bath to our house,we set it partly in the loft over our garage. That loft had become a memory dump. I found work detritus from old jobs, ancient bikes, a toboggan, and a blowup boat for starters. Easy to throw away or give away. Especially clothes I hadn't worn in five years.

I know where I've stowed the important stuff--lots of photo albums, my kids' Mother's Day art or poetry, picture Xmas cards from friends and family, old toys and mementos from vacations and parties. Am not ready to toss them yet.

But I don't cringe when I see a TV show about hoarding disorder. That's not me.

I do cringe when a mom and her kids come to the shelter with a pocketbook, important papers, and a couple suitcases or leaf bags, if they had time to grab even that. I hope they can retrieve what they've lost.

But that's only material stuff. What I most want them to retrieve is peace of mind, self-worth, and a new plan. I want them to lose what drove them away:fear, bad memories,a hopeless future--all a very evil sort of clutter.

I hope eventually it gets tossed.