Clutter in Motion

It’s a beautiful, sunny 60 degree day here in Maryland. Jay is sleeping, James is sleeping, Selma and a friend have been riding bikes and now they’re picnicking in the back yard (they requested sliced oranges, hummus and tortilla chips). Sophie, Selma’s guest said, “this is such a great play date!” I think they’re relishing in their new 8-year-old freedom of being basically in control of their free time. The house is quiet and I’m liking my free time too.

I did some laundry and picked up the really awful messes of the past day or so, but when I started on a pile on a couch side-table, I realized, what looked at first like clutter was a project in progress. We have a lot of “active” clutter in the house because its small, we don’t have dedicated room for the kids to do crafts, and although they have a play room they play everywhere.

And looking around, I realized, I didn’t mind this kind of clutter, I actually like it. It’s interesting to see what activities are happening in the house by what little piles are being created. That said, sometimes an “active” pile becomes stagnant–I just spotted the remnants of our Christmas card project. Before I can really put that away, I need to enter new addresses into my address book. But it isn’t an active project any more, it’s stuck.

With our impending move, I’ve had to be a lot more pro-active about sorting. I don’t want to take any unnecessary stuff to Alaska, and I want to have room for stocking up on needed supplies. I’ve already done a pass on all the bedrooms, and the rest of the house is much harder. My mom and I have promised each other that we’d tackle one small de-cluttering task per day on our houses, so today, I’m going to have a go at a problematic kitchen cupboard.

Related posts:

1. The Clutter of Unfinished Things