When the snowball gets rolling, it just keeps gaining speed and momentum.  With the money situation in order (we became debt free in September 2016 and I meant to blog all about it, but it just didn’t happen.  Super exciting though!!), and the eating situation in order, I’ve moved into organization mode because I have the energy to do it now, and I’m getting a taste of how great it feels to cut out what is not needed in life and finally simplify.

I’m sure you’re heard of Kon Marie, the Japanese woman that wrote the book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and maybe you’ve even started sorting through your clothing, only keeping those things that bring “joy” into your life.  For those new to KM, her system is different than all others because she has you clean and purge according to category instead of room by room.  This approach allows you to really see what you own, really evaluate what you NEED, and really get in touch with what you truly LOVE and what brings you real JOY to own.

After our basement flooded last spring, I’ve been sort of forced to go through ignored boxes of things that haven’t been unpacked since we moved in 2007 to WA state.  My family has urged me to just throw the boxes away since we haven’t opened them in 10 years, but I can’t bring myself to do that because I know of a few key items that I LOVE, and I want to find them.  In going through the boxes, I’m finding all kinds of things and sorting them into categories.

Now with each category, I’m deciding what to keep and what to donate or toss.  It has been a VERY eye opening process.  I first gathered all of the Erin Condren brand items that I’ve collected over the past few years.

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I did not realize how much I had until I FINALLY put it all together in one place.  This covers most of my living room floor! Much of this was actually free to me since I run a blog for my planner (www.myerincondren.com) and I’ve received many referral credits for introducing others to the Erin Condren brand.  But it’s still an indication of allowing an area of my life to be totally out of control.

Next I gathered sticky notes.

Now that I’m a teacher, I am confident that I will actually use ALL of these in a couple of years.  I go through them very quickly in my classroom, so I’ve packed these all up in a tote and I’ll just grab them when I need them as the year/s pass.

They’re even pretty in storage!

Today I grabbed all the note pads that I had collected from various areas of the house.  This one made me stop and consider WHY I had this many notepads and office supplies in general.

I’ve always loved office supplies.  I had a stationery collection and a sticker collection that were sacred to me when I was a little girl.  I still have a stationery collection and sticker collection that I plan to use (and do use), but I want to focus on these list pads right now.

Why would I buy THIS MANY lists?  What in the world was I thinking?  Some of these are duplicates with multiples of exactly the same pad.  I’ve concluded that having this many list pads gives a false sense that everything is in control when in reality things are just the opposite.   Owning all the tools for order doesn’t result in order, and sometimes it can just cause more chaos.  It’s a dream, an imagination, this idea of being organized, and making a list is the way to get that started.  But wanting a dream and making changes to move toward a goal are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT things.

Changing my eating habits has given me a much clearer mind and I’m learning so much about myself.  I evaluate everything I purchase now and I’m able to make clear distinctions about what I need versus the things I simply want.  I won’t be buying things that give me a wishful reality because my mind doesn’t need them, my body doesn’t need them, and the space in my home doesn’t need them.

The question now is, what am I going to do with all these pads?!!