In my perpetual struggle to maintain order of the things in my life, I’ve rediscovered Karen Kingston’s book, Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui . What I had forgotten from the last time I’d looked at it is that she has more than one kind of clutter defined in the book. It will probably take me a lifetime to handle just the physical clutter, but her description of “the clutter of unfinished things” really resonated with me: “Things not dealt with in your home reflect issues not dealt with in your life, and they are a constant drain on your energy. there are the niggly repairs, such as fixing the broken drawer, mending the broken appliance… The larger the scale, the more these things impinge on your ablility to get on with your life.”

Yesterday, I tackled a few things I was procrastinating about, and as usual, it felt great. It is energizing to finish the little things like paying bills or putting the summer clothes away. But the big things can be really draining. Our house in seattle needs new tenants and I had been avoiding beginning that process because it’s daunting. When I listed the house and mentally accepted the work, the calls and emails began to come in immediately. It looks like we already have found new renters. Now, was that so hard?

Somehow having done those little things has given me a burst of creative energy. I’m full of ideas for articles, books, designs, blog posts. I’m rushing to make notes so I have some inspiration when the energy subsides.

I procrastinate in my writing and knitting as well. I usually don’t start a project until the deadline is imminent. But with a big project I have due in the beginning of December (which deserves a post of its own, so I won’t go into detail here), I started as soon as the materials arrived. I’ve tried to manage my time more efficiently, and it does feel better. I’m sure, though, I’ll leave some details to the final moments, as is my habit. Baby steps.

Oh, by the way, instead of my usual plain Amazon link, I’m trying one of their “enhanced” links today–you hover over the link and it give you product information. If you find this really annoying PLEASE let me know, so I can avoid doing it again.

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The Clutter of Unfinished Things