The Happiness Project

A couple weeks ago my mother-in-law passed away. Helen was a lovely woman who made a real mark on her community and her family and friends. Her boxes of pajamas for the kids every Christmas as well as her bright smile and love of dessert before (a tradition we already carry on some weekends) will be sorely missed.

In the midst of our mourning, the kids and I walked into an Indigo store and browsed. It was here I came across The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin http://www.gretchenrubin.com/ . In need of some happiness, I bought it. I have to say I'm only three chapters in, but find it an interesting read.

Chapter One talks about clearing clutter from our lives. Okay, I've tried this before. It reproduces. As fast as I clear a table or a counter, the next generation of debris settles in. Ugh! But I've managed to clear a desk top and the coffee table (already reproduced!) and a dresser (now covered in cards and mail.) No problem. Not giving up.

The clutter is only a symptom of the busyness of our lives. Work, school, activities...we're always on the go and find a convenient place to drop things with the half-hearted intent of putting them away later. It's when later stretches into a week or two that it becomes an issue. One of the worst places for clutter in the entire house is my closet. The catch all space. Forget a little drawer, I go big! The kids already know that's where the Christmas gifts lurk, but never snoop for fear something will fall on them!

The plans for clutter are simple. Go in, clear it all out, and live in spacious peace. Uh...but, I can't get rid of the jacket my mother-in-law gave me that I've never worn. Or the blouse from my mom because I wore it...never. Or the shoes I used to wear to my old job at the bank. Or the mounds of binders I keep my manuscripts in since I don't have a real office space, I work out of my closet. Literally. Or...(insert other odds and ends here). The point is, we all have things we keep for sentimental value. Some things fill space in our hearts, some just fills space.

So, onward with my own Happiness Project.
Month One, November, will be about clearing the clutter and finding some much needed energy.
Let you know how that goes!

Clearing out the Clutter

A total change in routine today got me started cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those hoarders you see on television, but I do have my share of clutter. Mostly because I'm one of those people who was taught never to waste. I always have a crafty use for things, even though my kids no longer want to do crafts. I always have a great idea for an empty bottle or broken glass. (It's the artist in me, what can I say?) But the time has come, my husband said, to relieve ourselves of many things.

This morning I cleaned off the catch all in the kitchen (aka our cupboards), next will be the bookshelves in the livingroom and office. I have a habit of hanging onto books I love and ones I have yet to read. To most people that's a normal thing, to some people it's more clutter. But I refuse to get rid of my autographed collection.

The one thing I am passionate about (aside from my own assortment of manuscripts, photos and binders) is the books my friends and acquaintances have written. Aside from my kids, they are my pride and joy. People may thing I am bragging when I say "I know someone who wrote a book about..." but I'm not. I'm genuinely proud of their efforts and that they put that part of themselves out there for everyone to read. I gladly show them off, just as I hope someone will for me one day when I get my work published.

I have learned a great deal over the past three years as a part of the Headwaters Writers' Guild. I have met people who excel at editing, dialogue, description. I have met others who have determination oozing out their ears. And I have found the support I have lacked for most of my life. That support gives one focus.

Focus can help to decrease your clutter. How? Because you know what you want and you know how to get it and you won't let things stop you. Clutter stops you. Clutter makes you sit and stare and wish it away. When it is gone, you can concentrate on the page and not the baskets of laundry or stack of dirty dishes or the mound of papers on your desk that taunt you.

This morning, I am getting rid of the clutter around me and dusting.
This afternoon, I plan to write without distraction.
Well, unless I think of something else that needs to be done....